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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.

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

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Be part of the clean energy movement

Now in its seventh year, the 2023 programme awarded a record £37,692 to ten community groups. The estimated carbon savings from this round alone amount to 7.5 tonnes CO2 equivalent every year. We also provided free online training on the topics of energy advice, community approaches to tackling fuel poverty, and community building energy efficiency. 50% of the people who came to these training sessions had not previously engaged with the programme but were eager to do so afterwards, with two-thirds saying they had been inspired to conduct a survey of their building. Plus, everyone who attended expressed motivation to support their communities in tackling fuel poverty, with all groups also keen to initiate their energy projects.  
Hear from some of the grantees in <a href="https://www.cse.org.uk/news/community-buildings-are-thrive-ing-across-the-uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CSE’s article</a>.

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It’s been a record year for our Community Benefit Programme– over £37,000 awarded in energy efficiency grants.

Community buildings thriving across the UK

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.

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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

Start with communities
We put people at the heart of the energy transition, ensuring the benefits of clean energy are kept local. The Ambition Community Energy wind turbine in Bristol – which we provided £4 million of investment into &#8211; is a great example of how local clean energy projects are already benefitting communities every day. As well as providing a new revenue stream to drive regeneration in Lawrence Weston, plans for an Energy Learning Zone will inspire young people and upskill residents to pursue green careers. Making the benefits of climate action directly relatable to our everyday lives also helps unite and inspire action.

Harness the power of together
We won’t tackle the climate emergency if we don’t work together. So we collaborate with individuals, businesses and communities to build the renewable assets that the UK needs, faster. As well as providing community funding bridges, we enter into co-investments and joint ventures with industry peers and help businesses decarbonise through on-site renewables. Today we unite a community of over 6,000 individuals, businesses, social enterprises and institutions all committed to making the switch from fossil fuels to renewables. Together we’ve generated over 2 million MWh of clean electricity and avoided the emission of more than 1 million tonnes of CO2e.
And let’s not forget the facts!
Against the noise, we remain focussed on action – last year acquiring the rights to our biggest project yet. UK fossil fuel generation reached its lowest quarterly share in a century in Q3 2024, while renewable energy hit record growth. Let’s not forget how far we’ve come from when renewables were the pursuits of a humble few in the 90s to becoming mainstream today – generating over 50% of Britain’s electricity last year. In 2024 we also said goodbye to the UK’s last coal fired power station – a huge milestone in the energy transition and poignant reminder that together we are making significant progress. So let’s keep it up, and support each other as we keep our eyes fixed on a cleaner, fairer future.

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Staying positive and powerful against the new wave of climate denialism. 

(Climate) actions speak louder than words

It’s less “drill, baby, drill” and more mill, baby, mill! In fact, it’s got us thinking about how getting to net zero is not only about delivering new projects but making the most of those that already exist.
<h3>What is repowering?</h3>
Repowering is when an existing project – like an onshore wind turbine – is upgraded to make it more efficient and productive. It normally takes place once the turbine or wind farm has reached the end of its original design life (usually after 25-30 years) and, because of innovations in technology, often sees multiple smaller turbines replaced with fewer, larger – but more modern and powerful – machines.
This normally increases the site capacity, for example when Caton Moor wind farm was repowered back in 2006, we were able to increase the annual power yield seven-fold. Importantly, it also means that asset owners can streamline the process that comes with developing a new project as the existing site has already been proven to be suitable for wind, will continue to be used for the same activity and has been granted planning permission previously.
<h3>What are the benefits of repowering? </h3>
1. Makes the most of our available onshore wind and land resources and reduces waste
One of the first things we saw the new Government introduce last summer was updated targets for renewable energy development in the UK, including a goal of 30GW of onshore wind by 2030. While it’s important to recognise that yes, we do need to add new capacity – including onshore wind – to the grid, we can’t forget that there are a finite number of sites that will be suitable for these technologies. It makes exercises like repowering a vital part of the journey as the land has already been allocated and in a prime location that makes the most of the country’s abundant natural resources.
It&#8217;s also worth noting that repowering can be done in a conscious way to reduce waste as parts can be recycled or reused – like with Caton Moor, the turbines which were removed from the site were re-erected in Poland within weeks of their removal.
2. Continued access to clean, homegrown power 
Onshore wind is currently one of the cleanest, cheapest and quickest ways to generate electricity and is vital to improving our energy security – making sure the country is less exposed to the price volatility that comes with using fossil fuels. However, in its 2024 manifesto, RenewableUK estimated that by 2040 we are in danger of losing almost 9GW of onshore wind (compared to the current total capacity of 15GW) as it reaches the end of its life. By repowering these sites, we won’t lose important generating capacity at a critical time for both the UK and planet, helping to accelerate the transition at the pace and scale required for net zero.
3. Community benefit 
We know that the majority of communities are supportive of onshore wind. In fact, according to the government’s latest polling, 7 in 10 (78%) are supportive of the technology and recognise its role in lowering bills, improving energy security and tackling climate change.
Repowering gives host communities the opportunity to continue benefitting from onshore wind, whether it be through the creation of local green jobs or support for local initiatives via community benefit funds. For example, Thrive’s voluntary Community Benefit Programme makes energy efficiency grants available to community buildings close to our sites. Since 2016, we’ve awarded 70 grants totalling over £225,000, helping to make important local spaces warmer and cheaper to run.
<h3>What are the barriers we need to overcome?</h3>
It was positive to see that the Government will include UK repowering projects in the next round of its annual Contracts for Difference scheme, creating the opportunity for onshore wind farms to utilise finance when funding repowering.  Access to the CfD should accelerate the repowering process, making the investment decision to seamlessly progress from the maturing site to the repowered opportunity more straight forward.
But we still need to see continued support and even a clear planning presumption or incentive in favour of repowering – not just for onshore wind but other renewable technologies too. This will then help engage local authorities around what we do with aging infrastructure and empower them to deal with applications appropriately as part of their wider transition plans.
The other challenge is grid connection. Even if a project can be successfully repowered, due to the current grid constraints asset owners may not be able to access additional grid capacity that would allow them to increase the generation capability of the wind farm. It means that they’ll be capped at the original generating capacity whilst waiting for the queues for grid capacity to subside, meaning the UK may not be able to realise the full benefits of repowering until these issues have been solved.
Grid reform recently featured in the Government’s Clean Power Action Plan, citing that NESO and Ofgem will provide a framework through which NESO can work with Transmission Owners (TOs) and Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) to prioritise the projects needed for 2030, as well as maintain a robust pipeline beyond 2030. As with other ongoing policy reform, we’ll be keeping an eye on how this unfolds and contribute to the appropriate public consultations what will hopefully help to accelerate our transition to a cleaner, fairer energy system in the UK.

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