1. Renewables are about to take over fossil fuels for the first time ever  

At the time of writing, the UK is on track to make a major breakthrough – with renewable energy generation set to overtake fossil fuels for the first full year. According to the think tank, Ember, the country’s naturally abundant wind, solar and hydro resources will generate 37% of the UK’s electricity in 2024 compared to fossil fuels (35%) – this will be the first time that renewables have outperformed fossil fuels consistently across four quarters.  

That might not sound like a lot, but it’s important to recognise how far we’ve come, especially as just three years ago fossil fuels generated 46% of UK electricity and renewables generated 27%. 

2. Government puts net zero at the heart of its plans  

A new Government was elected in July and the party made a number of quick policy announcements, reaffirming its commitment to net zero and recognising the swift action that is needed if the country is to meet its climate targets. 

There were a number of promises made as part of its election manifesto – including the creation of a nationalised energy company (Great British Energy), radical planning reform, more support for local power generation and the promise of a rooftop solar revolution. While we’ll have to wait and see how some of these evolve, there has already been strong progress in some important areas – including the removal of the effective ban on onshore wind and the UK’s biggest Contracts for Difference (CfD) auction to date, with the budget increasing from £1 billion to over £1.5 billion. Over 130 wind, solar and tidal projects secured long term price stability, including our Abergorkie wind farm site in Wales.  

Last week, we also saw the announcement of the Government’s Clean Power 2030 action plan, which outlines how it will achieve the “most ambitious reforms to our energy system in generations”. Key measures include speeding up planning decisions and reducing grid connection times, as well as a focus on ensuring that communities directly benefit from clean energy infrastructure. 

3. We breezed past a new milestone for wind generation 

The UK achieved 30GW of wind capacity this year, following the successful powering of the 434MW Viking wind farm on the Shetland Islands in August. According to RenewableUK, 30GW is enough to meet the annual power needs of 26 million homes and can cut carbon emissions by more than 35 million tonnes a year. 

As one of the first companies to fund UK wind farms in the early 90s, we have long believed in the power of these mighty machines. And while this milestone feels like it’s been a long time coming for us, it’s a huge success for the industry – especially given the fact that it took 26 years to install the first 15GW of wind energy in the UK and that has now been doubled in just seven years. 

It’s proven that onshore wind is one of the cheapest ways to generate electricity today and therefore has a vital role to play in our transition away from fossil fuels. Now we have seen the de facto ban lifted in England, we hope to see many more wind projects making their way through planning and into development, as well as a renewed focus on repowering, which will see older sites that have reached the end of their life replaced with fewer, but more efficient, machines with the capability to generate more clean electricity.   

4. The UK became the first G7 country to fully divest in coal power 

In September, the UK closed its doors on its last coal plant at Ratcliffe-on-Soar – the first G7 country to completely phase out the use of coal for generating power. Ending over a century of burning coal to generate electricity, we have moved from coal accounting for more than 95% of the UK’s electricity generation to 0% today. In another positive announcement, the government recently confirmed that it will be introducing legislation that will ensure no new coal mining licences will be issued in future. 

5. Thrive kicked off celebrations for thirty years of funding and building clean energy projects

It wouldn’t be a 2024 round up if we didn’t celebrate one of our own significant milestones from this year – our 30th birthday. Since 1994, we’ve been committed to climate action, funding and building new clean energy projects that put people and planet at their heart.  

By working together, we’ve been able to achieve some great things, whether it be enabling the first commercial sized wind farm to transfer into community hands or investing in the UK’s first deep geothermal production plant. In total, we’ve built or funded 42 clean energy projects that have saved over two million tonnes of CO2 being released into the atmosphere. And we’re only just getting started. 2025 looks set to be another exciting year and we look forward to working with you – our Thrive community – to create a better, cleaner future for the generations to come.