Local Power Plan  

Community-owned energy has a huge role to play in a cleaner, fairer future and something we have long been supportive of, facilitating community ownership at our very first wind project back in the early 90s. Given the enormity of the challenge faced in transitioning our energy sector, we need everyone to be on board.  We feel that involving people in local energy projects is key to building collective buy in for this crucial change. But despite widespread support (62% would back a community-owned scheme in their area), projects face a myriad of challenges, from early-stage funding to grid connection queues and a shortage of skills and resources. A recent article in the New Statesman summarises it perfectly – “the enthusiasm exists; the infrastructure does not”.  

But the topic of community energy is now gaining momentum, with much anticipation around the upcoming Local Power Plan – a policy document from the government-owned energy company, Great British Energy (GBE), which has the potential to turbocharge people-owned wind, solar and hydro. Teased in the Government’s recent strategic plan, GBE is pledging its support for over 1,000 local and community energy projects by 2030 in a bid to reshape how energy is generated and consumed at a local level. 

Expected in early 2026, the Local Power Plan will set out the ambition for this growth and “develop a range of interventions and products that address the unique challenges facing local and community energy […] and work to identify the common solutions that can be used as a platform for scaling up delivery”. We very much look forward to publication and hope to see a clear framework of how GBE plans to work with the private sector, which will be vital in providing the funding and expertise for development.   

Grid constraints 

Last year was the cleanest ever for UK electricity, with renewables generating over half of the UK’s electricity for the first time. To completely decarbonise the electricity system by 2035, we still need to see a massive scaling up of clean energy sources. We have seen good progress on this in 2025, but  grid constraints – i.e. the bottlenecks in the electricity network that prevents power flowing freely and efficiently – are still a challenge. It was great to see connections reforms introduced this year to give  the National Energy System Operator (NESO) authority to terminate ‘zombie’ projects (those that are stalled or non-viable) and prioritise those that are ready for development and align with the UK’s Clean Power Action Plan – like our Abergorki and Whitelaw Brae wind farms. In 2026, we expect to see the first projects to benefit from these reforms to come to fruition. On top of that, Ofgem recently announced £28 billion of investment into the UK’s energy infrastructure, helping to transform the grid, which was largely built in the 1960s, into a system that can keep up with the  modern demand for energy.  

Contracts for Difference  

In 2025 the government announced reforms to its Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme aimed at boosting renewable energy deployment. The CfD is a mechanism which offers long term price stability for new renewable energy projects, commencing with an auction to ensure price stability is offered at an appropriate level. One of the key changes announced was that the contract length for solar, onshore wind and offshore wind will be extended from 15 to 20 years. This means that costs are spread over a longer period which provides greater revenue certainty – this in turn allows projects to access lower cost debt, which contributes to allowing renewables to continue to lower the cost of the power generated. Allocation Round 7 (AR 7) which opened in August 2025, is the first to operate under the new rules. We’re pleased to see repowered onshore wind projects made eligible for AR7 and future rounds as part of the changes as well.  This will strengthen the business case for repowering older wind farms, allowing them to benefit from technological advances, and produce more clean power. AR7 has a total budget of £310 million for onshore renewables – this is the maximum support the government would pay renewable energy generators if wholesale electricity prices dropped below the auctioned CfD price (offshore wind has a separate budget). With AR7 expected to be the biggest allocation round since 2014, we are waiting in anticipation for the results to be published in early 2026. We hope the results will support the capacity development needed if we are to meet 2030 clean power targets. 

… And for us it’s all about building new capacity 

Look out for exciting updates from the Thrive team next year as we make significant progress with some of our projects. Work on our 14-turbine Whitelaw Brae wind farm will really ramp up, following progress with access tracks and foundations in 2025, with commissioning expected to take place in late 2026. Once operational, it will be capable of generating enough clean electricity for around 45,000 homes a year. Construction is also set to start on Abergorki, our proposed 12.6MW wind project in South Wales, while we expect United Downs will be delivering 2MW of baseload electricity. We will also see more progress with Community Energy Catalyst, our £40 million joint venture with Better Society Capital to galvanise locally owned projects, with the first project in Kilbirnie expected to become fully operational.