Cookies are small text files that are placed on your device by websites that you visit. If you click accept, we will use cookies that track your activity across other websites, help improve your browsing experience and serve you personalised content.
If you click decline, we will only use essential cookies that are required for our website to work properly. For more information or to change your preferences, please read our Cookie policy <a href="/cookie-policy/">cookie policy</a>.

Find out more

Link

Investors

Dev Links

Buy and sell shares

Shareholders

Bonds

Overview

2023 annual report

Projects

Quick Links

From South Cornwall to the Orkneys, from onshore wind and solar to geothermal, our diverse portfolio of clean energy projects spans the whole of the UK.

Operational

Under construction

2024 half year report

Impact

As one of the UK’s highest scoring B Corps, we are committed to using our business as a force for good.

Our approach

Community support

30 years Thriving

Project funding

Thrive brings together flexible funding models, proven technologies, and problem-solving people to turn your clean energy project into a reality.

Funding for

Case studies

About

Thrive exists to tackle the climate emergency, working with investors, developers, businesses and communities to fund, build and operate clean energy projects since 1994.

About us

Governance

View all

News

Find out more about our new projects, events and industry insight. 

News 

Useful Documents

News and insight

Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. <a href="/risk-summary/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Take 2 mins to learn more</a>.

Sign up to our newsletter to be one of the first to hear about new projects, events and industry insight. Your data will be processed in line with Thrive’s privacy policy, available <a href="/privacy-policy/">here</a>.

Newsletter - thank you

Be part of the clean energy movement

Sign up to our newsletter to be one of the first to hear about new projects, events and industry insight. Your data will be processed in line with Thrive’s privacy policy, available <a href="/privacy-policy/">here</a>.

kessingland-2

kessingland

Latest news

The new initiative, Community Energy Catalyst, will support local communities to build their own clean energy infrastructure or secure stakes in larger regional renewable energy schemes. Fair Play Clean Energy, Thrive’s existing joint venture with Top Cashback Sustainability Ltd, will provide £20 million of the investment, with Better Society Capital providing matched funding.
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.
As well as funding, Thrive brings 30 years of experience financing, building and operating clean energy projects in the UK, and will provide support to community energy groups during key milestones such as procurement and grid connection.
When we created our award-winning community funding bridge in 2017, it was the first of its kind. Eight years later we’ve invested over £21 million into seven community energy projects, including £4 million to build England’s largest onshore wind turbine, which is 100% owned by the community in our home city of Bristol.

ace_june_2024-6

ACE_June_2024-6

Funding partnership with Better Society Capital will help more communities to own their own projects or take a stake in a larger project in their local area.

We’re partnering with the UK’s leading social impact investor to mobilise £40 million for community-owned energy projects

Featured

This is where Thrive steps in. It’s our mission to power the transition to a sustainable energy future by helping people meaningfully connect with clean energy projects. In 2016, we developed a funding model called: ‘The Thrive Community Bridge’ as a way of responding to this growing desire for community owned renewables. We’ve already supported communities with £12 million investment into wind and solar projects across the UK and we want to do more projects like this.
<h3>We empower communities to Thrive:</h3>
We give communities the time they need to raise their own funds through local ‘crowdfunding’ or/and via a bank loan – this is why our finance model is called a ‘bridge.’
<ul>
<li>Our funding gives communities a sense of local ownership and empowerment to say: ‘Together, we own our renewable energy at source.’</li>
<li>We are uniting communities through a common movement to invest in and own clean energy.</li>
</ul>
<h3>We offer speed and flexibility:</h3>
<ul>
<li>We act quickly and efficiently to help communities get the most out of their purchase.</li>
<li>We are experts in acquiring and funding a range of small-to-mid scale projects.</li>
<li>We offer flexible finance for a range of project types: hydro, solar, wind and storage.</li>
<li>We have access to a wide network of industry contacts, partners, suppliers, and industry bodies.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Our investment terms are transparent:</h3>
<ul>
<li>We fund investments between £0.5M and £20M.</li>
<li>We invest in proven 100% sustainable energy projects.</li>
<li>We structure the finance to respond to the needs of the community and the specifics of each project.</li>
</ul>

mean-moor

mean moor

We are supporting communities in taking ownership of their local energy projects. See how our finance model called the 'Thrive Community Bridge' works.

The Thrive community bridge

The day took an unusual turn when one visitor asked: ‘What’s that strange thing outside on the tree?’
Luckily, local ecologist Bernice Roberts, of the Landmark Practice, was on hand to advise. To their amazement they discovered a huge natural ‘honeycomb’ beehive spilling out of a bat box attached to a tree.

In perfect timing, Bernice discovered, to her surprise, that the face painter at the open day was a local bee enthusiast who put her in touch with local natural beehive co-ordinators, Sal Pearson and Roger Wood.
It was a race against the clock to save the beehive as the weather had taken a turn for the worst.

Mark Doughty, Principle Ecologist at Wessex Water, landowners of the site, co-ordinated saving the bees. It all worked out well as Mark has been connected to bees all his life, his father is a veteran beekeeper. He naturally stepped in to help save the colony.

honeybee2-mobile-1

honeybee2-mobile (1)

A rare, giant beehive is creating a buzz among experts after taking up residence inside a bat box at Thrive's wind farm in Avonmouth.

Giant 'Honeycomb' beehive discovery

We agree with much of the high level direction of what Dieter Helm is recommending. We must achieve greater energy efficiencies, at home and in industry. We must transition to a smarter energy system, where supply and demand are dynamic in responding to energy availability. We’ve long been advocates of a functional carbon dioxide emissions market, where there is a cost attached to emitting greenhouse gases (GHG), the polluter pays, thus driving low and zero GHG emission solutions forwards. Where investment decisions are influenced directly by environmental performance and where the market can successfully identify employ the least cost GHG emission abatement technologies.
One of the study’s conclusions is that the growth in renewables&#8217; contribution to the electricity sector (delivering almost <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/612492/Energy_Trends_March_2017.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">quarter of the UK&#8217;s electricity</a> in 2016 , and anticipated to reach 30% this year) has lowered the wholesale price of electricity. There is acknowledgment that following the falling cost of renewable technologies, that going forwards renewable generation offers least cost electricity.
Helm has also established that support for the proliferation of renewable electricity which has been delivered to date makes up <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/654902/Cost_of_Energy_Review.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">20% of the cost of our electricity</a> in the UK. So, what does this mean for the average household in the UK? On average <a href="https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/infographic-bills-prices-and-profits" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">we pay £554 p.a.</a> for our domestic electricity consumption. So that implies we are paying £111 p.a., or £9.25 per home, per month for achieving one of the largest positive shifts in environmental performance the UK has ever seen. I fully appreciate that for our lowest income households £9 per month has a material impact. However, as the world’s 5th largest economy, it is incumbent on us to demonstrate some environmental leadership. The way electricity is sold could address the sad reality that those with the lowest incomes pay most for their utilities.
So, what could we be doing with our £9 per month? Sign up to an internet music or film streaming subscription, buy five newspapers, enjoy a posh coffee every week, or, deliver a material reduction in GHG emissions through our electricity system. What is being achieved with our £9 per month? As mentioned above, we are sourcing more than 25% of electricity from renewable sources, which means that annually there is now 1.6 tCO2e of emissions released into the atmosphere to generate our <a href="http://www.renewableuk.com/page/UKWEDExplained" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">average 3,900kWh</a> household electricity consumption. If we wind back the clock to 2008, this was 2.0 tCO2e, and in 1990 <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/documents/post/postpn_383-carbon-footprint-electricity-generation.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2.8 tCO2e</a>.  Progress indeed. This has been achieved by reducing our dependence on finite fossil fuels, and increasing our use of abundant natural, renewable sources of energy.
However, there isn’t time for complacency as the GHG emission intensity of our electricity needs to halve and halve again (and quickly) from today’s levels if we are to achieve our 2°C ceiling which we and 168 other nations have ratified following the Paris Climate Summit in 2015.
Whilst we’d prefer to have been part of an energy revolution which had miraculously leaped over 25 years of technology development, climatic understanding, public consciousness and political thinking, the reality is that change takes time, and the leap we’ve collectively made from ‘alternative energy’ to renewables and the associated environmental benefit has taken time and has a price, a price which is falling all the time and will dissipate over the coming years as existing facilities are retired and replaced with the next generation of best in class technology. So we’ve made the leap, we are delivering <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/612492/Energy_Trends_March_2017.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">over 24% of our power using renewables</a>, now we can benefit from our learning, by more efficiently delivering the next 75% whilst simultaneously lowering the cost of our electricity.
How many of us, given a transparent choice would prefer to pay £9, or perhaps more per month to improve air quality and deliver the associated health benefits, reduce the need to redesign our coastline to defend us from rising sea levels and more ferocious weather systems, keep our finite resources in the ground for when we really need them, and be proud of the legacy we are passing to future generations?
It feels like an investment worth making.

image-3

image

The government has today released the Cost of Energy Review to make recommendations on how we make energy cheaper in the UK whilst also delivering the environmental imperatives.

The cost of UK renewables - Good value, or great values?

Thrive’s <a href="/about-us/meet-the-team-1/">Board and Management</a> team: Matthew Clayton, Monika Paplaczyk, Katie Gordon and Alex Connor, as well as valued partners, Tom Harwood from Abundance were there to share the good news and network with some of the UK’s finest sustainable fund managers and organisations.
Thank you to everyone including, Triodos Bank Corporate Finance team, who has been instrumental in making the bond offer with IFISA such a success raising £10M for green energy projects and attracting over 900 new positive investors to Thrive.
The awards are aimed at fund managers and organisations who are at the forefront of facilitating or investing in themes that take into account the environment, ethics, as well as social and corporate responsibility, and whose work promotes a greater understanding into the sector&#8217;s potential.
Now in their tenth year, Investment Week&#8216;s Sustainable Investment Awards offer an opportunity to showcase expertise and commitment to investment factors that take into account environmental, social and ethical criteria as well as good corporate behaviour. Factors that are increasingly in demand by investors and a growing sector of the investment industry.

<h3>About Thrive&#8217;s award entry</h3>
In 2016/2017 Thrive raised a total of £13M for renewable energy projects through innovative online crowdfunding and was the first bond offer to be available through the Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA).
<ul>
<li>The Thrive Plc bond offer raised £9.97m for new sustainable energy projects in the UK exceeding its target of £7.5m by 33 per cent.</li>
<li>The funds are now being deployed into onshore wind and solar projects with the aim of generating a further 36,000 UK homes with clean electricity in 2018.</li>
<li>933 individuals invested their money in Thrive Renewable’s bond from just £5 online.</li>
<li>Whilst the 5% interest rate and IFISA benefits provided a healthy incentive to investors, Thrive’s bond demonstrates strong investor appetite and support for UK renewable energy.</li>
<li>Working with Triodos Bank’s corporate finance specialists and Abundance Investment, Thrive was able to offer Bondholders the opportunity to include their investment in their IFISA.</li>
</ul>

We are thrilled to have been recognised for the category award for 'Innovation (non-fund)' for our successful green energy bond with IFISA.

Thrive Renewables is 'highly commended' for Investment Week's 'Sustainable Awards' 2017

We have now successfully deployed all of the £10m raised in the 2016 Thrive Renewables plc bond offer into four renewable energy projects. In the case of three of these projects we have invested into existing sites to provide local communities with the opportunity to take direct ownership of the projects in their area. This includes Brockholes, a 2.4 MW wind farm in the Scottish Borders which we’ve invested in since the enclosed report has gone to print.
As we adapt to market conditions, our flexible and award-winning investment model is delivering impact and connecting more individuals to clean energy projects.
<a href="/documents/2017-half-year-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">View the full report here</a>.

tide-ise-2018-4

TIDE &amp; ISE 2018

We are pleased to present the 2017 Half Year Results with an update on the Company’s operational and financial performance to 30 June 2017.

2017 half year results

Its marginal cost is basically zero, its supply is infinite and contrary to some opinion, reliable, when used in conjunction with other renewable sources (if you have hydro, solar, wind and tidal – you have no reason to worry about black outs).
Sure, the transition takes a bit of effort, but once it’s done, it’s done. And it really will be done.
Last week, the amazing news broke that offshore wind has become the lowest cost option for large-scale, low-carbon power in the UK, after the price paid for electricity from the turbines fell by more than 50 per cent in two years.
If common sense were the only factor behind energy policy, this news should mean curtains for projects such as Hinkley Point C. However, policy decisions never seems as straightforward as: “this is lower cost and lower carbon, let’s make it happen”.
Another example of energy policy failing to make sense came in 2015, when, just as small scale wind and solar were really cranking up, with the costs and subsidies meeting at just the right place for mainstream investors and developers to see real appeal, the Government swiped away the bulk of the subsidies. Just like that. The move put the brakes on a rapidly accelerating sector over night.
Many developers put the last few projects in the ground, then shut up shop. Homeowners who had been in two minds about getting panels suddenly saw their sums didn’t add up.
It looked like a victory for the anti-wind turbine lobby (which also contains a fair few climate change sceptics). The message from the Government was that it was time for the sector to stand on its own two feet – which had, to be fair, always been the goal. But the sector wasn’t quite ready.
At the time, that decision felt like game over. But Matthew Clayton, managing director of <a href="/?utm_source=Good%20With%20Money&amp;utm_campaign=MC%20interview">Thrive Renewables,</a> offers a long term perspective, seeing it as a lull from which the sector will soon recover.
Read the full story at the <a href="https://good-with-money.com/2017/09/18/interview-watch-out-for-the-renewables-comeback/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Good With Money </a>website.

img_0304

IMG_0304

Good With Money interviews Matthew Clayton, MD at Thrive: The thing about renewable energy is: it makes total sense. So much so that it’s hard to understand why any energy would not be renewable, now we have the technology to harness it.

Interview: Watch out for the renewables come back

The wind farm comprises of three 2.3 MW Enercon turbines across the valley from the existing High Winds two turbines at Harlock Hill in south Cumbria. Through co-operation, the Energy4All family of Co-ops has been able to acquire an existing wind farm from a commercial operator.
This purchase demonstrates the ability of the community sector to operate in the business world, and reflects the appetite for greater community ownership of renewable energy as an end in itself, especially important since most of the government subsidies for new build have been substantially reduced.

meanmoor

MEANMOOR

Three renewable energy co-operatives, High Winds Community Energy Society, together with Baywind Energy and Energy Prospects, and with the support of the ethical investment company Thrive Renewables, have acquired the Mean Moor wind farm in Cumbria.

The power of co-operation in the community owned renewable energy sector

Here’s one potentially gargantuan implication: as a result of the cost decline, it’s now possible to develop new offshore wind farms for a guaranteed price of £57.50<a class="js-scroll-done" href="https://good-with-money.com/2017/10/09/why-wind-could-become-the-uks-no-1-energy-source/#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1">[1]</a> per megawatt hour. This compares with the Government’s commitment to pay £92.50<a class="js-scroll-done" href="https://good-with-money.com/2017/10/09/why-wind-could-become-the-uks-no-1-energy-source/#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2">[2]</a> per megawatt hour to the planned Hinkley Point.
Matthew Clayton, managing director of Thrive Renewables, a <a href="http://goodegg.good-with-money.com/">Good With Money Good Egg company</a> that allows people to invest directly in UK renewable projects, said: “The results of the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/643560/CFD_allocation_round_2_outcome_FINAL.pdf">offshore auction</a> price is a great success for the sector and a milestone for the transition to a cleaner energy system. The UK is playing to its physical strength, we are exposed to a powerful wind regime and as an island, we have a long coastline.
&#8220;The Government can on one hand be pleased with the cost reduction, but on the other hand, this does make the cost of Hinkley Point C nuclear plant now seem way out of the market.”
<h3>The renewables revolution</h3>
The UK’s renewable energy capacity has been steadily gaining pace, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/647752/Energy_Trends_Sep_17.pdf">BEIS</a> Energy Trends report for Sept 2017 shows renewable electricity generation capacity grew to <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/647752/Energy_Trends_Sep_17.pdf">37 gigawatts</a> in 2017, having installed 4.4 gigawatts of new renewable generation over the course of 2017. Renewables are now generating more than a quarter of the UK’s electricity.

UK offshore wind power has just become materially cheaper than nuclear. This is a major step forward for UK renewable energy and we hear from Matthew Clayton, MD of sustainable investment company, Thrive Renewables about what this means for the industry. Written by Rebecca O'Connor - Good With Money

Why wind could become the UK's number one energy source

We develop, construct and operate small to medium scale renewable energy projects, and offer accessible opportunities to directly invest in these clean energy projects. The company has more than 6,300 UK investors and more than 90MW of renewable generation capacity under management. We were awarded a Good Egg for our renewable generation capacity and CO2e avoidance impacts, as well as our community engagement.
The mark, launched in May 2017, is designed to make it easier for people to find financial providers that have a positive impact on the environment and society, as well as offering a good deal financially. To find our more about the Good Egg logo click <a class="js-scroll-done" href="http://goodegg.good-with-money.com/#5" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>.
To read the full article click <a href="http://good-with-money.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here.</a>

The third responsible business to be awarded a Good Egg mark from Good With Money.

Thrive Renewables awarded Good Egg Mark

<h3>Peter, what inspires you to make a difference?</h3>
I have two children aged 14 and 11 and they’re very important to me. I want them to grow up in a clean energy world and renewables are a big part of that. I also want to broaden their minds and encourage them to pursue what matters to them.
My son likes all things related to gadgets and science and told me when he was 9 that that he was going to create a solution for perpetual energy. It is good to dream big! Last year I brought him a small solar lantern and charging unit from Kenya which he now uses to do his homework and charge his phone. Hopefully this can be the first step on his sustainable energy ladder.
My family recently travelled with me to Tanzania where I work with local companies to provide off grid community energy. During the trip we visited a social business assembling and distributing solar lanterns to show my children how some local women live and work and to get them engaged. They have now decided to raise funds for charitable causes of their own. While they did not opt for renewables &#8211; my son went for Water Aid and my daughter chose to protect chimpanzees – I am pleased they too are trying to make a difference.
<h3>How did you come to work in renewables?</h3>
I followed a pretty unconventional career path. I started in financial journalism, followed by market research, electricity trading and energy banking. Energy financing and investment was a constant theme throughout. In the early days, I worked for GE Capital and others, acting as the principal investor and lender in renewable and other energy projects. Later on, I switched to the energy manufacturing side, working for the likes of Siemens Wind Power to increase sales of wind turbines by sourcing financing for their customers.
While I really enjoyed working for these large energy companies, I have always had a soft spot for smaller organisations. Joining Thrive Renewables (Thrive) as a non-executive director in 2011 exposed me to smaller, more localised renewable projects. Becoming a trustee of the NGO Renewable World provided me with insight into even smaller, micro-scale projects, this time in developing countries. And then last year, I joined the management team of Energy 4 Impact where I get paid to do something I love: working with small entrepreneurs on renewable energy in the challenging markets of Africa.
<h3>Tell us more about your work in the renewables sector?</h3>
In my day job, I am Investment Advisory Director for <a href="http://www.energy4impact.org/">Energy 4 Impact. </a>We are a non-profit organisation that seeks to alleviate poverty in Sub Saharan Africa by increasing access to energy for under-served rural communities. Currently around 6 out of 10 people in Africa lack access to electricity &#8211; that is nearly 650 million people. Well over half of the businesses there say access to reliable power is a major constraint on their growth. And there is a big urban-rural divide, with access in urban areas being nearly 70% compared to just 15% in the countryside.
We provide advice to small and micro off-grid renewable enterprises, including start-ups and more mature growth businesses. My role is to advise them on business plans and capital raising and to work with local financial and industrial partners to provide financing for their end customers. Our business clients include suppliers of solar lighting and energy products, solar irrigation pumps, cold storage units, biogas digesters and clean cooking solutions. We also support providers of ancillary services such as remote metering and payment systems, which are critical for the sustainability of renewable businesses in remote areas.
Like Thrive, we do a lot of work with small renewable project developers. However, the challenges involved are very different from the developers supported by Thrive. Most of the “mini-grids” Energy 4 Impact supports are very small (I.e. a few kilowatts in size versus the megawatt projects of Thrive) and serve only a few hundred or thousands of people. Because most of the projects are not connected to the national grid, they supply energy directly to local communities where demand for electricity is often uncertain. In the case of Thrive’s projects, we already have a good idea how much and to whom we are selling power.
In my part time, I am a trustee for Renewable World which develops community micro renewable projects in South Asia and East Africa. These include hydraulic and solar water pumping projects in the hillside communities of Nepal and solar mini-grids in remote fishing villages in Kenya. My role is to oversee and support programme management and fund-raising. Like Thrive, Renewable World works closely with local communities to ensure the projects are sustainable from a social, business, financial and environmental perspective.
<h3>What else are you doing?</h3>
A few years ago I became an (unpaid) advisor to Pearlstone Energy, a UK electricity demand response aggregator start-up. They face many of the same challenges in terms of market development and funding that my clients in Africa face, albeit in a very different market context.
Demand response is an emerging market that allows commercial industrial consumers such as data centers and medical facilities to support the National Grid by reducing their electricity usage during peak periods and getting paid for doing so. While the market is currently more risky than traditional generation, the opportunities for investors and potential benefits for consumers in terms of lower cost electricity and reduced CO2 emissions are clear.
<h3>How do you see the future?</h3>
The cost of key components such as solar panels and batteries has fallen dramatically in recent years, creating new opportunities for investors. In developed markets such as UK, we are seeing the emergence of new businesses in energy storage and demand response, which dramatically improve electrical system efficiency. In some developing markets such as East Africa, we are witnessing a solar revolution facilitated by remote metering and pay-as-you-go technologies which allow those unable to afford the high upfront cost of electrical services to pay in small instalments. All in all, it is a very exciting time to be in renewables.
<h3>About Peter Weston</h3>
<ul>
<li>Board Member of Thrive Renewables (formerly Triodos Renewables) since 2011. Chair of Operations and Health &amp; Safety Committee.</li>
<li>Director of Investment Advisory at Energy 4 Impact (formerly GVEP International)</li>
<li>Trustee of Renewable World</li>
<li>Visiting lecturer at ESCP, a European business school</li>
<li>Previous management roles with GE Capital, Siemens Wind Power, MAN Diesel &amp; Turbo, Westdeutsche Landesbank, Aquila Energy and Osaka Gas</li>
<li>Journalist with Euromoney Publications and freelancer for Financial Times</li>
</ul>

0u9a9201-edit

0U9A9201-Edit

Empowering communities, connecting people to power and inspiring the next generation.

Team profile: Peter Weston

This passion extends to everyone around him, from his family and friends, to the UK renewable investment community, and to the small off-grid entrepreneurs he works with in Africa.
With a 20-year career as an investor, lender and strategic adviser to different organisations in the renewable energy sector, we are interested to find out what makes Peter tick and where the next chapter of his renewables adventure will take him.
<h3>Peter, what inspires you to make a difference?</h3>
I have two children aged 14 and 11 and they’re very important to me. I want them to grow up in a clean energy world and renewables are a big part of that. I also want to broaden their minds and encourage them to pursue what matters to them.
My son likes all things related to gadgets and science and told me when he was 9 that that he was going to create a solution for perpetual energy. It is good to dream big! Last year I brought him a small solar lantern and charging unit from Kenya which he now uses to do his homework and charge his phone. Hopefully this can be the first step on his sustainable energy ladder.
My family recently travelled with me to Tanzania where I work with local companies to provide off grid community energy. During the trip we visited a social business assembling and distributing solar lanterns to show my children how some local women live and work and to get them engaged. They have now decided to raise funds for charitable causes of their own. While they did not opt for renewables &#8211; my son went for Water Aid and my daughter chose to protect chimpanzees – I am pleased they too are trying to make a difference.
<h3>How did you come to work in renewables?</h3>
I followed a pretty unconventional career path. I started in financial journalism, followed by market research, electricity trading and energy banking. Energy financing and investment was a constant theme throughout. In the early days, I worked for GE Capital and others, acting as the principal investor and lender in renewable and other energy projects. Later on, I switched to the energy manufacturing side, working for the likes of Siemens Wind Power to increase sales of wind turbines by sourcing financing for their customers.
While I really enjoyed working for these large energy companies, I have always had a soft spot for smaller organisations. Joining Thrive Renewables (Thrive) as a non-executive director in 2011 exposed me to smaller, more localised renewable projects. Becoming a trustee of the NGO Renewable World provided me with insight into even smaller, micro-scale projects, this time in developing countries. And then last year, I joined the management team of Energy 4 Impact where I get paid to do something I love: working with small entrepreneurs on renewable energy in the challenging markets of Africa.
<h3>Tell us more about your work in the renewable sector?</h3>
In my day job, I am Investment Advisory Director for <a href="http://www.energy4impact.org/">Energy 4 Impact. </a>We are a non-profit organisation that seeks to alleviate poverty in Sub Saharan Africa by increasing access to energy for under-served rural communities. Currently around 6 out of 10 people in Africa lack access to electricity &#8211; that is nearly 650 million people. Well over half of the businesses there say access to reliable power is a major constraint on their growth. And there is a big urban-rural divide, with access in urban areas being nearly 70% compared to just 15% in the countryside.
We provide advice to small and micro off-grid renewable enterprises, including start-ups and more mature growth businesses. My role is to advise them on business plans and capital raising and to work with local financial and industrial partners to provide financing for their end customers. Our business clients include suppliers of solar lighting and energy products, solar irrigation pumps, cold storage units, biogas digesters and clean cooking solutions. We also support providers of ancillary services such as remote metering and payment systems, which are critical for the sustainability of renewable businesses in remote areas.
Like Thrive, we do a lot of work with small renewable project developers. However, the challenges involved are very different from the developers supported by Thrive. Most of the “mini-grids” Energy 4 Impact supports are very small (I.e. a few kilowatts in size versus the megawatt projects of Thrive) and serve only a few hundred or thousands of people. Because most of the projects are not connected to the national grid, they supply energy directly to local communities where demand for electricity is often uncertain. In the case of Thrive’s projects, we already have a good idea how much and to whom we are selling power.
In my part time, I am a trustee for Renewable World which develops community micro renewable projects in South Asia and East Africa. These include hydraulic and solar water pumping projects in the hillside communities of Nepal and solar mini-grids in remote fishing villages in Kenya. My role is to oversee and support programme management and fund-raising. Like Thrive, Renewable World works closely with local communities to ensure the projects are sustainable from a social, business, financial and environmental perspective.
<h3>What else are you doing?</h3>
A few years ago I became an (unpaid) advisor to Pearlstone Energy, a UK electricity demand response aggregator start-up. They face many of the same challenges in terms of market development and funding that my clients in Africa face, albeit in a very different market context.
Demand response is an emerging market that allows commercial industrial consumers such as data centers and medical facilities to support the National Grid by reducing their electricity usage during peak periods and getting paid for doing so. While the market is currently more risky than traditional generation, the opportunities for investors and potential benefits for consumers in terms of lower cost electricity and reduced CO2 emissions are clear.
<h3>How do you see the future?</h3>
The cost of key components such as solar panels and batteries has fallen dramatically in recent years, creating new opportunities for investors. In developed markets such as UK, we are seeing the emergence of new businesses in energy storage and demand response, which dramatically improve electrical system efficiency. In some developing markets such as East Africa, we are witnessing a solar revolution facilitated by remote metering and pay-as-you-go technologies which allow those unable to afford the high upfront cost of electrical services to pay in small instalments. All in all, it is a very exciting time to be in renewables.
<h3>About Peter Weston</h3>
<ul>
<li>Board Member of Thrive Renewables (formerly Triodos Renewables) since 2011. Chair of Operations and Health &amp; Safety Committee.</li>
<li>Director of Investment Advisory at Energy 4 Impact (formerly GVEP International)</li>
<li>Trustee of Renewable World</li>
<li>Visiting lecturer at ESCP, a European business school</li>
<li>Previous management roles with GE Capital, Siemens Wind Power, MAN Diesel &amp; Turbo, Westdeutsche Landesbank, Aquila Energy and Osaka Gas</li>
<li>Journalist with Euromoney Publications and freelancer for Financial Times</li>
</ul>

After lunch, Thrive’s MD, Matthew Clayton covered the company’s outlook and how investors had made a direct impact, finished off with an inspiring talk from Felicity Jones of Everoze about the evolving electricity system and the growth of ‘storage’ as a means of delivering the flexibility required for an increasingly renewables powered system.
For more information on Thrive’s performance, projects and market outlook read the 2016 <a href="/documents/2016-annual-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Annual Report.</a> To see how we’re making a difference, visit our ‘<a href="/impact/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Impact</a>’ section.
<h3>2016 at a glance</h3>
It was a mixed year with particularly low average wind speeds, the autumn being the least windy for 15 years and major flooding creating challenges for the electricity networks. This resulted in profits being down for 2016, to some extent being balanced by improving power prices and two very successful, award-winning, bond offers raising over £13 million fuelling growth. The funds went straight into more onshore wind projects, and for the first time a ground mounted solar farm. Over the last 18 months the project portfolio has grown by over 16% to 19 UK sites in total, the majority being onshore wind with hydro and now solar.
The shareholders agreed an annual dividend at 4 pence, as per the previous two years, demonstrating the underlying health of Thrive Renewables.
The Thrive team were on hand to discuss a number of topics including the share price and latest investments as well as answer any questions. It was wonderful again to see our committed shareholders and bondholders to talk about the future of renewables.

img_2820-1

img_2820 (1)

Around 90 investors, both shareholders and bondholders, connected for one day in London for Thrive’s AGM at the prestigious Royal Institution - a fitting venue given its scientific legacy and the adjoining Faraday museum for shareholders to enjoy as part of the day.

Thrive investors connect in London to affirm renewables mission

Construction is currently underway and is expected to be completed by the end of next year. Once operational, the turbine will have the capacity to generate 7,839 MWh of clean electricity per year, the equivalent of powering 2,234 average UK homes, and will also deliver 3,324 tonnes of carbon emissions reductions annually. Profits from electricity sales will be reinvested back into the local area, which could include local sports and recreational facilities, as well as supporting the refurbishment of the Knox Institute building – a one-time important community hub.
Thrive’s funding is complemented by a £1.6 million investment from responsible finance provider, Social Investment Scotland, as part of a blended finance package, while Local Energy Scotland supported the project through planning and design with funding via the Scottish Government’s Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES).

The community group has overcome various challenges to get the project through to the construction stage, after commercial developers previously tried and failed to secure planning for the site. Recognising the benefits an onshore wind project could bring to the community, ATTIX proposed a new planning approach for its project in 2018 and, after receiving vital development funding from CARES, the group successfully gained planning permission in 2019.
While the impact of higher energy prices, inflation and grid constraints nearly stalled the project once again, we came on board alongside Social Investment Scotland in September 2023.
The Scottish Government has set a target of 2 GW of renewable energy to be community or locally owned by 2030. <a href="https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/report/community-and-locally-owned-energy-in-scotland-2022-report/">Research from Energy Saving Trust</a> has found that an estimated 908 MW of community and locally owned renewable energy capacity from 26,290 installations was operational in Scotland by the end of December 2022. This is estimated to produce 1,933 GWh of renewable energy annually.
CARES was established in 2010 to encourage local and community ownership of renewable energy projects across Scotland and to help maximise the benefits of renewable energy systems, whether commercial or community owned. Delivered on the government’s behalf by Local Energy Scotland, it has provided more than £58 million in funding to applicants and supported more than 600 projects across the country in total.

Sign up to our newsletter to be one of the first to hear about new projects, events and industry insight. You can unsubscribe at any time.

kilbirnie

Kilbirnie

The project will benefit local people living in the Garnock Valley and support Scotland’s transition to net zero.

£4 million investment into community energy group Attix CIC enables them to build Scotland's first subsidy free, 100% community owned onshore wind turbine

The ban, first introduced by former PM David Cameron in 2015, meant an objection from just one person could stop a new onshore wind turbine from being built in England. It also meant that any new development had to be constructed in an area identified as suitable for onshore wind as part of the council’s local plan (footnote 54 in the National Planning Policy Framework) – a requirement which is not applied to any other infrastructure project.  
But with many UK households feeling the effects of the ongoing energy and cost of living crises, the government has faced increasing pressure to ease these planning restrictions so that the country can start benefitting from cheaper, cleaner power. 
<h3>What exactly has the government said? </h3>
The government confirmed that it is streamlining planning permission for new onshore wind farms with immediate effect, claiming that the changes will allow ‘local areas [to] have a greater say in how onshore wind projects should be considered, ultimately resulting in electricity bill savings and increased national energy security’. 
According to the government website, ‘The measures include broadening the ways that suitable locations can be identified, including by communities, and speeding up the process of allocating sites by giving alternatives to the local plan process. This will ensure the whole community has a say, not just a small number of objectors – paving the way for more onshore wind projects to come online where they have community support.’

One issue with the government’s announcement is the continued lack of clarity around ‘community support’ and how they will be expected to demonstrate this. We have a robust planning process in place for all other infrastructure projects, whether it be housing, roads or other renewable energy technologies, that allow for and take into account community feedback. So why, for onshore wind, are we asking communities to proactively evidence that they’re in support of a project?  
The deviation in requirements suggests that there’s a presumption that the general public are against onshore wind. This is simply not the case – according to the government’s own figures, just 12% oppose a wind farm in their own community. 
<h3>What does it mean moving forward? </h3>
While we await a secondary announcement in the Autumn, it looks like these changes will, at best, make it slightly less difficult to build new onshore windfarms in England. 
We know that onshore wind can generate cleaner, cheaper and homegrown electricity that helps keep household bills down, but the government is failing to treat it like any other infrastructure project. What we really want to see is a level playing field and a removal of footnote 54 from the National Planning Policy Framework.  
The Ambition Community Energy (ACE) turbine in Bristol is proof that onshore wind is not only popular with communities but can have tangible economic and social benefits too. Profits from electricity sales from the 4.2 MW turbine will be reinvested back into the Lawrence Weston community, while the ACE team are also planning to set up an Energy Learning Zone, which will give local residents the opportunity to upskill and learn about green careers. 
As proud funders of the ACE turbine, the only onshore wind farm to be built in England so far this year, we will continue working with people and businesses to make projects happen and promote the benefits of local generation. 
&nbsp;
<img decoding="async" src="/media/3035/thrive-open-day-2022-93.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/7147ddec43c44afe8a30b278c737de44" />

wind-turbine-no-logo

Wind turbine NO LOGO

After a campaign from backbench MPs, the government announced that it is ‘loosening’ planning restrictions on onshore wind in England.

Has the UK really lifted the de facto ban on onshore wind in England?

After 22 years, you can imagine how productive a life these blades have had – generating over 88 GWh of clean electricity and travelling just over eight million miles in total. That’s the equivalent to making a quarter of a million return journeys from Thrive’s office in Bristol to Sigurd in an electric vehicle!
The blades now need replacing in order to extend the operational life of Sigurd. In some instances, it’s possible to reuse blades when a whole turbine is decommissioned, which is the exercise we undertook when repowering our Caton Moor wind farm in Lancashire. However, when blades are calculated to reach the end of their life, reuse isn’t possible. This raises the question; how can we dispose of the blades in the most sustainable way?
<img decoding="async" src="/media/3032/sigurd-2.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/1c6da748a29540e9b8ed3e0064b90c57" />
Although the blades from Sigurd can’t be reused for renewable energy generation, they can be repurposed. With the new rotor now fitted at Sigurd and the old blades taken off, we’re pleased to be working with <a href="https://www.reblade.co.uk/about-us">ReBlade</a> to repurpose as much of the blades as possible. They will be turned into useful items for businesses, councils and communities, which could include sustainable bike shelters, EV charging stations, or even bespoke dining tables.

Made primarily from fiberglass and other composite materials, wind turbine blades are difficult to recycle. ReBlade is the first UK company to decommission turbine blades without the use of landfill, pioneering innovative approaches to blade handling that enable circular end-destinations for blade waste.

Latest news

Find out more about our new projects, events and industry insight.

Featured

11 Mar 2025

We’re partnering with the UK’s leading social impact investor to mobilise £40 million for community-owned energy projects

27 Nov 2017

27 Nov 2017

24 Nov 2017

22 Nov 2017

16 Nov 2017

15 Nov 2017

14 Nov 2017

16 Oct 2017

28 Sep 2017

07 Sep 2017

07 Sep 2017

01 Aug 2017