It’s been great to see community energy in the spotlight this year. In March, our CEO, Matthew, was in parliament to give evidence at the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee’s Unlocking Community Energy at Scale inquiry, alongside other community energy experts. The government has recognised the value of direct community involvement in the energy transition and launched a consultation around community benefits and shared ownership, which we as long term advocates responded to alongside others in the industry. And just this month, Great British Energy launched its first strategic plan, which identified local energy as a key priority – we look forward to seeing how this develops with the publication of the much-anticipated Local Power Plan next year.

Talking of community energy, in 2025 we launched an exciting joint venture with the UK’s leading social impact investor, Better Society Capital – bringing together £40 million for community-owned wind and solar projects across the UK. The new initiative, Community Energy Catalyst (CEC), will provide funding for 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. In the summer CEC made its first investment, taking over Thrive’s £4 million loan to ATTIX CIC to fund the construction and operation of the 2.5MW community-owned wind farm in Kilbirnie, Scotland.

Solar generation reached new heights this year, rising by a third in the first six months of 2025 to produce a record 9.91 TWh of clean electricity – enough to power all the homes in Scotland! [1] More records were broken on 8th July, when solar reached its highest ever level on the grid at 14GW (39% of the UK’s electricity demand at midday). Our new 10MW solar farm in Essex made the most of the sunshine, generating enough electricity to power over 8,000 homes in a particularly sunny June. We will be offering an opportunity for shared ownership in the project, via a local community energy group.

Shortly after the de facto ban was lifted, the Government formed its new Onshore Wind Taskforce, bringing together representatives from across the industry to explore how the roll out of this critical technology could be accelerated. As members of the finance subgroup, Thrive took part in these discussions and in July the results were published – a hefty 82-page strategy document identifying more than 40 steps to help deliver the additional 29GW of onshore wind needed by 2030. We were pleased to see grid connection reform identified as a top priority, as well as references to support for repowering older wind projects with newer, machines – utilising advances in scale, blade design and control systems which are capable of generating more power with minimal additional footprint.  

In the Autumn, we joined individuals and businesses from across the globe at a glittering awards ceremony to celebrate some of the world’s leading sustainability initiatives. And we were extremely proud to win the award for Responsible Investor of the Year. In 2025 we also won ESG Investor of the Year at the Business Green Awards, Net Zero Developer of the Year at Regen’s Green Energy Awards and Sustainable Finance Team of the Year at the Global Good Awards.  

In September, the first concrete pour took place at our 57MW Whitelaw Brae onshore wind farm in Scotland to secure stable foundations for the turbines. Now 11 of the 14 foundations are completed. The concrete base is crucial for ensuring the longevity and stability of the turbines so they can generate clean electricity for decades to come. We were really pleased to be on site to witness the first concrete pour, alongside our co-investors in the project, TopCashback Sustainability Ltd. The project is on track to start generating next year, and, once operational, it will be capable of generating enough clean electricity for around 45,000 homes a year. Since construction commenced in March, we have averaged over 50 people constructing the site, plus health and safety, civil, electrical and grid designers, structural engineers, ecologist and archaeologists contributing to the responsible completion of the site.   

Talking of green jobs, at the end of October, the government announced a national plan to train people for an extra 400,000 jobs in the clean energy sector in the next five years. The Clean Energy Jobs Plan outlines its scheme to double the number of people working in the green industries by 2030, with a particular focus on upskilling oil and gas workers as well as tailored schemes for ex-offenders, school leavers, and the unemployed. We sat down with several Thrive team members to find out what they love about working in sustainability and how we, as an industry, can support more workers to find their place within the evolving green economy. Hear their thoughts.   

Just a few weeks later, the government unveiled its long awaited Carbon Budget and Growth Delivery Plan, setting out how it will put the UK back on track to meet its net zero targets. The didn’t contain many surprises, and there were blind spots, particularly around aviation. However, there’s no denying that the government’s commitment to going “all in” on climate action is significant progress. We were particularly pleased to see the plan framed around “making the British people better off” by reducing energy costs – confirming its intention to cut household bills by £300 a year by expanding homegrown clean energy and reducing the UK’s reliance on fossil fuels which tend to be priced on global markets. The plan also included a new “investor prospectus” to support green investment, plus a commitment to ensuring communities are empowered in the transition.    

On 5th December the UK’s wind farms generated over 23,000MW of electricity – enough to power more than 23 million homes. National Energy System Operator reported that on that day at 5.30pm wind power was generating over 47% of Britain’s electricity – breaking the maximum generation record of 22,000MW set less than a month previously. With clean energy now producing around 60% of the UK’s electricity mix, we’re looking forward to seeing renewables reach new highs in 2026.    

[1] Based on generation figure of 9.91 TWh and calculated using the most recent statistics from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) showing that UK average domestic household consumption is 3,301kWh per annum (1,650kWh for a half year period). 9.91TWh could therefore power 6,004,241 homes for a half year. Scotland’s population is 5,490,100 https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates