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Be part of the clean energy movement

The #FacesoftheEnergyTransition campaign is being supported by the COP26 and Race to Zero digital channels, with Monika discussing the huge influence her first All-Energy conference had on her career, as well as her hopes for a clean energy future.
Watch Monika’s video in full below, with special thanks to Regen and the other companies supporting the campaign including Energy UK, The Association for Decentralised Energy, Energy Networks Association, Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), REA, RenewableUK, Solar Energy UK, Community Energy England and Electricity Storage Network.

Monika Paplaczyk, Investment Director, Thrive Renewables

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Monika Paplaczyk Thrive Renewables

Faces of the Energy Transition

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Thrive renewables open day in Avonmouth. September 2022.

Hear from our investment director, Monika Paplacyzk, about her journey within the renewables sector as part of a new campaign showcasing some of the inspiring women behind the energy transition.

Joining the #FacesoftheEnergyTransition campaign

<a href="/news/2024/12/weve-acquired-the-development-rights-for-our-biggest-project-to-date-a-57mw-onshore-wind-farm-in-scotland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Whitelaw Brae, a 57MW wind farm project in Scotland</a>, is wholly owned by Thrive Renewables. We bought it from the original developer at the end of last year after a competitive tender. Ripple was not part of that transaction and Thrive has not received any funds from Ripple Energy or Coop 4.   
We have been exploring ways to integrate Coop 4 into the project, so we need to await the outcome of the administration process. As owner of Whitelaw Brae, we will continue with construction and we hope to include an opportunity for shared ownership if possible.   
Thrive Renewables was established in 1994 and has an operational portfolio of 24 clean energy projects, with further projects in development. We have a long track record of supporting community and shared ownership, both at the sites we own and by providing finance for community-owned energy projects. You can find out more here  <a href="/project-funding/community-energy-groups" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Community energy groups – Thrive Renewables</a>

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Thrive Renewables

Whitelaw Brae wind farm update

Last year the UK energy transition reached new milestones, as the last coal fired power station closed its doors and the UK’s wind fleet set new records &#8211; becoming the largest source of electricity generation for the first year ever. Plus, there were a number of positive actions from government, culminating in the publication of their <a href="/news/2025/01/lets-not-forget-smaller-local-projects-in-the-new-era-of-clean-electricity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Clean Power 2030 Action Plan</a> at the end of the year. Whilst we push for further action from government to accelerate the energy transition, we’re busy as ever building more renewables to lower emissions and create a fairer, more secure energy system.

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Chris Watt Photography_427

In our 30th year rolling out renewables, we generated enough clean power for over 40,000 average UK homes.  

Good generation across the portfolio in a historic year for UK energy

As long-term advocates of community ownership, we were proud to represent the sector in parliament this month, giving evidence to the Energy Security and Net Zero committee inquiry ‘Unlocking community energy at scale’. From community energy groups to facilitators, charities and funders like Thrive, it brought together leaders from across the industry to have an insightful discussion on the potential of locally owned projects and the barriers to progress.
One of the questions asked was whether a public awareness campaign would be helpful and, if the above stat is anything to go by, our response is yes! Community energy is a climate solution that could be accessible to thousands of people across the country, yet many are unsure of what it is and how to access it.
<h4>What is community energy?</h4>
According to Community Energy England, “community energy is about people and communities taking democratic control over their energy future, by understanding, generating, using, owning and saving energy in their communities”.
In many cases, this would be when a community takes control and owns, or has a share, in a project producing clean energy – for example, the Ambition Community Energy turbine in Bristol which has been operational since 2023. The clean electricity generated helps power homes and businesses, while revenues are used to fund other local initiatives.
What change do we need to see for community energy to flourish?
Although community energy has been gaining momentum for a number of years, the new government has shone a light on the sector – with specific reference to supporting community projects in both its Local Power Plan and Great British Energy Bill.
However, there are various challenges community energy groups face when developing their own projects, in particular a lack of funding, sometimes skills and expertise and access to appropriate sites. As part of the committee inquiry, Thrive suggested that we need to see a positive change in at least one of these areas:
Revenue / power price – Revenues are driven by the underlying productivity of the project (MWh) and the route to market (power prices). One key change the government could make is enabling community energy projects to participate in its Contracts for Difference auctions, which provides more revenue certainty. This is not currently accessible to community groups as most projects are too small to participate.
Development and capital expenditure – Government funding currently tends to flow more to feasibility studies than developing projects, prioritising innovation over typical developer skills (land agents, property lawyers, developers). We propose GB Energy to offer a revolving fund of low interest, long-term construction loans designed to complement private sector investors and development loans with write off ability.
Grid connections – Another way to bring down upfront costs would be for GB Energy to fund the grid infrastructure and then charge the community an annual fee over the project’s lifetime. At the end of its life, the project could be repowered in which the new project would continue payments to GB Energy. The investment case into grid by GB Energy could be long term and given the lower risk profile could attract lower cost of capital.
It is vitally important that support is provided by Great British Energy to make projects viable, but great care should be taken to ensure that finance is carefully blended, so public money seeds and facilitates private and community investment rather than replacing it.
How is Thrive helping to unlock local investment?
We believe that there is huge opportunity for community energy to scale up, with the potential to transform people’s attitudes to renewables locally. This can be achieved with a blend of finance from the private and public sector.
Thrive has committed to offering local Community Benefit Societies up to a 10% stake in all future projects. This builds on our track record of facilitating shared ownership, from the first wind farm we built in Cumbria to becoming the first commercial developer in the UK to offer the local community a stake in a battery storage project.
We’re also helping to facilitate projects through <a href="/news/2025/03/were-partnering-with-the-uks-leading-social-impact-investor-to-mobilise-40-million-for-community-owned-energy-projects">our new partnership with social impact investor, Better Society Capital</a>. The joint venture, Community Energy Catalyst, will bring together £40 million to support local communities to build their own clean energy infrastructure or secure stakes in larger regional renewable energy schemes.
Community Energy Catalyst will make investments ranging between £0.5 million to £30 million in individual projects which are at least 1MW in size and employ proven technologies such as onshore and offshore wind, solar PV and hydro-electric. The joint venture will target late-stage development projects that have already secured planning consent, enabling them to advance through to construction, commissioning and operation while aligning with local objectives.

Faces of the Energy Transition

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