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kessingland

Latest news

As a result, the company has recommended a final dividend of 12p per share for 2025. If approved at the AGM in June, it will be paid to shareholders in July 2026*.
Building blocks to continue growing our impact
One of the big highlights of the year was the addition of a 10MW ground mount solar farm in Essex, which we acquired through the Fair Play Clean Energy joint venture with TopCashback Group Ltd, supporting our diversification strategy as we look to derive value from across the technology mix.
We also celebrated the first investment by Community Energy Catalyst, our joint venture with Better Society Capital, with the community-owned turbine in Kilbirnie now generating clean power and unlocking a revenue stream to fund other local initiatives. This includes a new Employment Hub, offering employment and training opportunities for local people, sustainable transport opportunities and help to address health and educational inequalities locally, as well as upgrading local sports and recreational facilities.
Also in Scotland, we made significant progress on our largest project to date, a 57MW onshore wind farm, with the foundations for the 14 turbines now poured, and construction about to get underway. A further 25.1MW of wind is currently in development.
It was great to see these achievements recognised on a global stage too, with Thrive taking home the gold for Responsible Investor of the Year at Reuters Global Sustainability Awards in October.

As well as building and acquiring new projects, we are actively pursuing life extension and repowering opportunities across our older sites. In 2025, we announced our joint venture Burgar Hill Renewables (representing the local landowner), with plans to breathe fresh life into the Burgar Hill site – a pioneering testbed for onshore wind in the UK. Subject to obtaining necessary planning consents, the repowering project is expected to have an installed generation capacity of up to 30MW which would deliver an estimated £150,000 in annual community benefits each year.
In February we took a key next step in the proposed repowering project, with Burgar Hill Energy (the joint venture between Thrive and Burgar Hill Renewables) acquiring two Nordex N80 wind turbines that were previously owned by RWE.
Supporting local communities
As part of our mission to connect as many communities as possible with renewables, we are now pledging to provide an opportunity for the local community to purchase a share of every new project we acquire.
Through our Community Benefit Programme, we awarded £33,000 to eight community hubs across the UK – helping them to make important energy efficiency improvements such as lighting and heating upgrades, insulation, double glazing and more. Stuartfield Village Hall, based near our Clayfords wind turbine in Aberdeenshire, were one of the grantees from 2025. To help manage their energy costs, they used their £4,300 grant to overhaul their lighting system.
You can read our annual report in full <a href="https://cms-admin.thriverenewables.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Thrive_Annual-report-2025_Web-Final.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
*  Please remember that past performance cannot be relied on as a guide to future returns.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
[1] Impact Portfolio describing Thrive’s share of projects owned plus 
the projects Thrive is funding (adjusted proportionally where Thrive’s 
funding is a minority of a project’s overall funding).
[2] Homes equivalent is calculated using the most recent statistics 
from DESNZ showing that annual GB average domestic 
household consumption is 3,323kWh (as of December 2025, 
updated annually). <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6945728a033693d5d50eb83d/subnational-electricity-and-gas-consumption-summary-report-2024.pdf">Subnational Electricity and Gas Consumption Statistics, 2024</a>.
Average residents per household 2.35 (<a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/families/bulletins/familiesandhouseholds/2024">Families and households in the UK &#8211; Office for National Statistics</a>), Population of Southport is 
93,902 (<a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/understandingtownsinenglandandwalespopulationanddemography">Understanding towns in England and Wales: population and demography &#8211; Office for National Statistics</a>).
[3] Carbon reduction is calculated by multiplying the total amount of 
renewable electricity generated by Thrive’s impact portfolio each year by 
the number of tonnes of carbon which fossil fuels would have produced 
to generate the same amount of electricity. We have used DESNZ’s “all 
non-renewable fuels” emissions statistic of 448 tonnes of carbon dioxide 
per GWh of electricity supplied from the Digest of UK Energy Statistics 
(July 2025) Table 5.14 (“Estimated carbon dioxide emissions from 
electricity supplied”). Additionally, we include a conservative 
estimate of the carbon saved through operating our BESS projects.
[4] This includes £5.1m set-off against financial assets repaid.

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Beavers-47

As profit levels returned to pre-energy crisis levels in line with forecasts, we have already acquired the projects we need to meet our 2028 growth target. 

Annual results 2025: Acquisition of new projects and progression with development and construction of two onshore wind farms helping to lock in impact for next 30 years

Featured

They are targeting thousands of businesses spending £500,000 a year or more on electricity. Over 8,000 businesses in the UK have annual electricity contracts of 10GWh or more and are likely to be spending at least £1 million a year, according to energy market analysts Cornwall Insight. The number with £500,000 annual bills is likely to be far larger.
Customers with a mid-range 2MW battery could save more than £1 million over a 15-year standard contract.
Thrive has invested in, owns and operates a 104MW portfolio of wind, hydro and solar assets. The joint venture moves it into the rapidly emerging storage market, combining its own funding and behind the meter renewable expertise with Aura Power’s market-leading experience of developing utility scale batteries.
Aura Power has developed a wide range of projects including a 15MW battery at Lockleaze, near Bristol – the UK’s largest when it started operation in August 2017 – and a 10MW battery at Nevendon, Essex.
The joint venture is seeking businesses spending around £50,000 a month or more on electricity with steady consumption and spare import capacity. Potential customers could include manufacturers, water utilities, pharmaceuticals businesses, cold storage facilities, hotels and large office buildings.
Batteries will be installed behind the meter, offering a range of benefits. Businesses can:
<ul>
<li>avoid punitive Triad and red zone charges for using electricity at peak times;</li>
<li>save money by charging up when power is cheap;</li>
<li>earn money by providing services to the grid such as frequency response;</li>
<li>hedge against rising electricity costs;</li>
<li>maintain activities during power cuts;</li>
<li>correct power quality issues;</li>
<li>develop or increase on-site renewable generation;</li>
<li>support electric vehicle charging.</li>
</ul>
Before customers sign a contract, Aura Power will review their electricity usage and bills and carry out a site survey. Customers will then be recommended the appropriate size of battery, from 0.5MW up, and provided with forecast revenue and savings.
Batteries can be installed with minimal impact on site operations, either in existing buildings such as basements or in shipping containers outdoors. Installation takes as little as a few days and is timed to ensure minimum disruption. The process from signing a contract to installing the battery can be concluded within three to six months.

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Wicken

Thrive Renewables and Aura Power are launching a joint venture today that will offer thousands of UK businesses the chance to use battery energy storage systems to cut electricity bills at no cost to themselves.

Batteries offer businesses savings with no up-front cost

During 2017, Thrive Renewables:
<ul>
<li>Raised nearly £10 million from 940 investors via the Thrive Renewables plc bond.</li>
<li>Completed construction of two new onshore wind energy projects totalling 10.6MW.</li>
<li>Created the Thrive Community Energy Funding Bridge, investing £11.4m in three projects, enabling the communities to buy renewable energy projects from large infrastructure owners.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Delivering impact in 2017</h2>
<h3>Widening ownership of renewables</h3>
Thrive Renewables plc bond offer successfully closed in March 2017 having raised £9.96 million. Over 900 individuals invested in the bond in addition to impact investment institutions and foundations. A total of 669 new individuals joined Thrive’s community of investors via the bond.
<h3>Investing in new renewable capacity</h3>
Thrive Renewables contributed to construction and commissioning of 10.6MW of new onshore wind capacity in 2017. The company delivered 6MW through Drumduff wind farm in West Lothian, Scotland, through a joint venture with GreenPower (International) Ltd. It also provided a £1.48m mezzanine loan facility that contributed to the funding of Brotherton Wind Farm, a 4.6MW onshore wind project in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
“One of our new wind projects, Drumduff, is particularly satisfying; it sits on the site of a ‘retired’ open cast coal mine. It’s difficult to think of a more appropriate and optimistic symbol of how we use investor’s money to directly transform the country’s energy system,” says Matthew.
<h3>Innovative community funding model</h3>
In 2017, Thrive supported three communities with a total £11.4 million investment: a £1.7m funding bridge to a Community Interest Company that owns the Sheriffhales 3.174MWp solar PV farm in Shropshire, a £7.4m funding bridge to Mean Moor Community Wind Farm Limited that owns a 6.9MW wind farm in Cumbria, and £2.3m funding bridge for the purchase of the 2.4MW Brockholes wind farm located in Scottish Borders.
Thrive has been able to use its capital flexibly to allow the migration of assets from commercial to community ownership. The new innovative funding model is designed to provide communities with the expertise, funding and certainty required to acquire operational renewable energy projects. It then provides the communities with the necessary time to raise the funds.
<h2>Future ambitions</h2>
By 2020, Thrive has pledged to:
<ol>
<li>Deliver renewable energy projects in a subsidy free world.</li>
<li>Grow the investor base to 10,000, combining direct investment and funds facilitated by the Community Energy Funding Bridge.</li>
<li>Invest into a portfolio of sustainable energy projects that deliver over 100,000 tCO2e of greenhouse gas emission reductions per annum.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Business strategy</h3>
Thrive will pursue a focused business strategy to deliver impact in the subsidy free context, focusing on three core areas:
<h3>Community energy funding bridge</h3>
Many commercial players are looking to sell operational renewable energy projects to market. Thrive will continue to work with communities that have the ambition of owning renewable energy assets and provide funding bridges and expertise to facilitate the ownership transition.
<h3>Private wire generation</h3>
Thrive is working on securing more sites for supporting private wire generation at industrially-sited generation sites, such as its existing projects in Dunfermline, Eye and March.
<h3>Repowering mature assets</h3>
Thrive operates projects such as <a title="Haverigg II wind farm" href="/our-projects/haverigg-ii-wind-farm/" data-udi="umb://document/bf81738a173c42ec81a425b15ba31763">Haverigg II </a>and <a title="Beochlich hydro electric site" href="/our-projects/beochlich-hydro-electric-site/" data-udi="umb://document/e3f0af5ecc5249d79b91852e59c0e1af">Beochlich</a> that are entering their third decade of generation. It will continue with the preparatory work on repowering (replacing the existing generation assets with new equipment) with a view to extending the life of the projects. The repowering of sites can help support the subsidy-free future, as cost savings can be achieved relative to a new site by utilising existing infrastructure, such as the grid connections.
“Thrive intends to be at the forefront of demonstrating that subsidy-free renewable electricity generation can work in the UK. We are focused on private wire opportunities and repowering of existing sites, as well as offering the Thrive Community Energy Funding Bridge to communities, so broadening ownership of renewable energy and making local assets more accessible for individuals,” says Matthew.
<h3>Subsidy-free</h3>
While Thrive’s existing portfolio delivers financial impact from Feed in Tariff and Renewables Obligation subsidies, the future for new projects looks very different. The near elimination of financial support and significant planning constraints imposed on new onshore developments in England have largely put paid to the standard business model of the last 20 years.
In the future, Thrive believes that new onshore renewable energy projects will only be viable if they are more actively part of the local electricity system, perhaps combining with low cost storage, smarter and more flexible demand management, private wire, and/or peer-to-peer trading.
Thrive intends to be at the forefront of UK renewables development by demonstrating that subsidy-free can work and exploring opportunities to invest in both battery storage and demand side management flexibility services.

about-us-image

Record turnover of £15.6 million in 2017, up 15% on 2016, and a 28% growth in generation capacity to 104.9MW from 21 renewables projects across the UK.

Record year for Thrive Renewables in 2017

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The Bridge of Orchy village hall was also awarded £4,000 which paid for roof and floor insulation and eligible for its proximity to our <a title="Beochlich hydro electric site" href="/projects/beochlich-hydro-electric-site/" data-id="1472">Beochlich hydro-electric site</a>. The work was undertaken as part of a wider refurbishment, bringing the hall back into use and opening in the spring of 2017.
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The refurbished hall provides daytime activities for mums, children and older folk fighting isolation and offering inclusion in a remote area. The hall will also offer shelter to walkers on the popular West Highland Way.
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With awards of up to £4,000, a whole host of changes will be possible, including insulation, draught-proofing, improved heating, LED lighting or lighting controls. There is an option to use the funding for selected professional advice leading to long term improvements in energy efficiency.
</div>
The fund is available to community buildings near to sustainable energy projects in which Thrive Renewables is invested. These are positioned all over the country, from Cambridgeshire to Dunfermline and from Bristol to Cumbria.
</div>

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IMG_0316

Communities across the UK can apply for grants to make their shared public buildings easier and cheaper to heat thanks to the Thrive Renewables' Community Benefit Programme.

Community building grants open for 2018!

Energy suppliers are in the process of rolling out smart meters which allow us to monitor our home energy use in increasingly detailed ways.  Being able to control appliances or thermostats via apps on our phones represents a huge technological step forward.  Smart appliances can also be sensitive to the frequency of the grid and adjust their demand in line with the availability of renewable power.
Our understanding of the systems and the choices we make in our homes are essential to make the most of these opportunities.  Purchasing the right appliances when they need replacing, using ever-improving controls to best effect and trying to avoid using power heavy appliances during peak periods will all make a difference to our home energy consumption.
Read the full story at the <a href="https://good-with-money.com/2018/02/22/domestic-energy-storage-wont-replace-behaviour-change/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Good With Money</a> website.

img_0304

IMG_0304

We don't have to wait for smart meters and storage to become a smart consumer today. Our MD, Matthew Clayton, is interviewed by Good With Money on reducing domestic energy use and home energy bills.

Smart systems or smart behaviour

The three-turbines at Mean Moor are adjacent to the original Baywind project, an historic site, and the first community owned wind farm established in 1996.
Rod Blunden, Chairman of Energy Prospects Co-operative said: “We are overwhelmed with the response we have received from both Energy Prospects members and the wider Renewable Energy community. It is fantastic that we have been able to bring a commercially owned wind farm into the community owned sector”.
The purchase demonstrates the ability of the community sector to operate in the commercial world and reflects the appetite for greater community ownership of renewable energy as an end in itself, especially important as the challenges for developing new onshore renewable electricity projects continue to grow.
The wind farm comprises of three turbines across the valley from the existing High Winds two turbines at Harlock Hill in south Cumbria.
Over 400 individuals invested in the scheme, the minimum investment was £500 with the maximum investment capped at £50,000.
Financing from Thrive Renewables enables communities to purchase a renewables project from a developer giving them time to raise the funds themselves and then pay back the company over an agreed period. It also provides the speed and funding certainty for the seller of a project.

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mean moor

Over 400 individuals raise an impressive £2.8m in just two weeks to refinance the Mean Moor community wind farm in Cumbria. It’s thought to be the first wind farm in the country to be transferred to community ownership from a commercial developer.

First UK wind farm transfers from commercial to community ownership

And what better way to pass on the benefits of their investment with the recent agreement to supply <a href="http://www.bristol-energy.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bristol Energy</a> customers (and one of the first municipal energy companies in the UK) with clean power direct from Beochlich.

<h3>Facts about Beochlich hydro-electric </h3>
Beochlich is located on the south-east side of Loch Awe in Argyll, Scotland, the site generates 3.5GWh a year, the equivalent to nearly 1,000 UK homes.
Electricity at Beochlich is generated by two turbines and a generator fed by a pipeline of fresh running water. The site includes a storage reservoir which allows the flow of water to be regulated to an optimum level when rainfall is high, as well as store water, during periods of lower rainfall.  Water extracted from the Beochlich reservoir is returned to the same water course downstream.
<h3>Connecting more people to renewables</h3>
THRIVE and Bristol Energy are helping to make green energy accessible for everyone. You can get involved in many ways, through a 100% green tariff, by investing in renewable energy and by saving energy. Quick energy saving wins &#8211; turn off standby appliances; turn heating down a degree; wash at 30 degrees; use low energy lighting. Small changes make a difference, get more <a href="https://www.bristol-energy.co.uk/customer-care/helping-you-use-less-energy" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">energy saving tips</a>.

beochlich-close-up

Beochlich close up

Our hydro-electric site at Beochlich in Scotland had its best year for generating electricity in 2017 than any other year in the history of the site!

Thrive's hydro-electric power goes to Bristol Energy customers

With over 5,500 shareholders, and more than 1,000 bondholders, we’re building our investor community. We do this in two ways, through a bond or share offers when we’re looking to raise large sums for specific projects. This happens roughly every two years with the last bond offer completing in February 2017. The money raised has been put to work, generating returns and connecting more individuals to clean energy.
The other way to get involved and join Thrive’s community of investors is to purchase shares at our monthly share auctions run by our dedicated broker, James Sharp &amp; Co. The monthly auctions allow existing shareholders to grow their stake in Thrive and for new investors to join us and contribute to cleaning up the UK&#8217;s energy system.
<h3>About the share buy-back policy</h3>
<ul>
<li>Shareholders are eligible to benefit from the Buy-Back policy if they have owned their shares for at least 24 months, and had their shares listed for sale on the Matched Bargain Market for a period of 12 months or more.*</li>
<li>Under the Buy-Back policy, the Company undertakes to purchase shares from eligible shareholders at a 10% discount to the <a href="/investors/shareholders-2/directors-valuation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Director’s Recommended Share Price</a>.</li>
<li>It is the Directors’ intention that the Buy-Back Policy will increase the liquidity of the secondary shares market and enable sellers to achieve a fair price for their shares.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Next steps</h3>
<ul>
<li>The initial share Buy-Back is subject to shareholder approval at the AGM on 22nd June 2018 and the Company having adequate financial resources to fund the share Buy-Back. </li>
<li>Eligible shareholders will be contacted by Thrive in April and invited to confirm their interest in participating in the Buy-Back.</li>
<li>The Directors reserve the right to cease offering the Buy-Back at any time.</li>
</ul>
Read and download the Buy-Back Policy.

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We’ve introduced a Share Buy-Back Policy with the intention of underpinning the share trading liquidity of the secondary market of Thrive shares and to demonstrate the Directors' confidence in the Directors' Recommended Share Price.

We introduce our share buy-back policy

Figures from the National Grid show that last year was the greenest year ever in terms of how Britain’s electricity is generated with onshore wind farms and renewable energy sources outproducing coal plants on more than 75 per cent of days of the year.
The five turbines at the Ransonmoor site, in operation since 2007, produce 26 GWH of electricity per annum, enough to power 6,600 homes for a year.

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IMG_4719

Britain must retain membership of the European Internal Energy Market (IEM) if Fenland’s wind energy sector is to continue to thrive, warned Euro-MP Alex Mayer at the European Parliament.

European market essential for thriving Fenland wind - says Labour MEP

<h3>Survey results and feedback</h3>
Thank you to all our investors who took the time to complete our short survey about how we are communicating as a company. It’s important that we hear your feedback and we were pleased to receive a total of 130 individual responses.
Here&#8217;s a summary of how we&#8217;re improving our communications as a result of your feedback:
<ul>
<li>We’ll keep sending out printed copies of our reports to those individuals without computers or limited access to the internet. We realise this is very important to some of our investors.</li>
<li>We’ll continue to provide the right balance of information in our reports that will help you as an investor to understand Thrive’s growth and performance. We shall communicate this information using clear examples and plain English.</li>
<li>We have put together a section on the website to explain how we are funding community projects. Instead of using the term: ‘mezzanine’, we have now called this type of finance model, the ‘Thrive Community Bridge’. You can understand more about it <a href="/investment-criteria/community-bridge/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a></li>
<li>We’ve made it easier to understand how to ‘sell’ thrive shares – it is the same way in which you buy them, through our monthly share auctions. We have made this clearer on the website <a href="/for-investors/buy-and-sell-shares/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>. If in any doubt, please <a href="http://www.thriverenewables.co.uk/about-us/contact-us/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">contact us</a> and we can explain further.</li>
</ul>

As part of our Half Year Report we asked investors how we're doing with our communications. Here are the results and thank you to everyone who took part in the survey. The survey is now closed.

Thrive investor survey results

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The Government proposed a fleet of six new nuclear power plants to be located at Hinkley Point, Sizewell, Bradwell, Moorside, Wylfa and Oldbury. The plan is to deliver a third of the UK’s power from nuclear by 2030.  Whilst I am 100% behind the low carbon agenda, and acknowledge the need for a mix of energy sources in the medium term, I’m not convinced that six new nuclear plants provide the flexibility and shape a more sustainable system needs, or represents good value for money for the UK’s “industry and hard working families”.
Andrea Leadsom MP recently shared that “Hinkley C is only the first in a series of proposed new nuclear projects in the pipeline. It will blaze a trail for further nuclear development.” A frightening choice of words!
Let&#8217;s recap on last year, plans for Hinkley C on the Somerset coast were already well underway, a Government backed fixed price for the power to be generated had been offered to the investors who were willing to build. <a href="http://news.sky.com/story/hinkley-point-c-faces-state-aid-legal-threat-10253456" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">£2.5 billion</a> had already been spent, ground works have commenced, and a consortium of the majority French State Owned EDF and China General Nuclear (CGN) had given the go ahead to undertake this enormous infrastructure project. The Government completed the picture, having given its go-ahead for Hinkley last September and it was all back on again with the addition of &#8216;significant new safeguards.&#8217;
<h3>Time</h3>
Hinkley C is planning to be exporting electricity to the grid by 2025. At the heart of the project is a European Pressurised Reactor (EPR), known as the 3rd generation nuclear reactors.  Whilst I can’t claim to have an understanding of the engineering and technology involved, the track record with delivering the EPRs does cause concern.  Projects employing similar technology in China, Finland and France are all years behind build schedule (six and nine years late in the case of France and Finland respectively) and significantly over budget. We live in hope that lessons are being learnt and that we will not have to wait for many years with an open cheque book for this project to be delivered.
However, this delay creates an opportunity for the alternatives.  If the current planned energisation of Hinkley C is 2025, and we assume an optimistic five year delay to 2030, then there is a gap in UK electricity generation capacity which is required to ‘keep the lights on’. New Coal and Gas fired power plants are unlikely to be built in the interim.
This uncertainty and delay could well be an opportunity for renewables. Few energy generation technologies can be installed and energised as quickly as wind, solar and hydro, with build times as short as four months, and if planning was more straight forwards, up to two years.
If planning decisions could be made in a more objective rather than subjective way, less like a very expensive game of Battle Ships and more of a strategic and pragmatic approach, then Renewables could plug the gap. If after 15 – 20 years these giant infrastructure projects are successfully built, tested and energised, then the renewables can supplement the grid with lower cost energy or be dismantled and re-erected elsewhere in the world.
<h3>Money</h3>
The energy system needs investment, the UK’s traditional, enormous, centralised-system coal generation plants are being retired, and despite our efforts with energy efficiency and another successful year of commissioning new renewable capacity, the National Grid’s reserve margin is shrinking.
So we agree, we need to invest, but what to invest in?
Cost estimates for the Hinkley C Nuclear project started at £6 billion, grew to £18 billion over the last 12 months and now both the National Audit Office and DECC (as was) are projecting a cost of <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/business-36794172" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">£37 billion</a>, even at £18 billion this is the UK’s largest infrastructure project. So as projected costs increase, is this money well spent, and what are our alternatives?
Assuming the nuclear plant will cost £18 billion, then one alternative would be to build 9,125MW of wind, solar and hydro which can generate the same amount of energy as the proposed 3GW nuclear plant.  However, there are differences between the nuclear and the renewables solution:
<ol>
<li>The cost of installing renewable generation and storage is falling rapidly, whilst it would appear that the cost of Nuclear is growing and being built within undefined timeframes;</li>
<li>Renewable energy projects don’t generate hazardous waste and their decommissioning costs are minimal, this is not the case for Nuclear Energy;</li>
<li>We would have some money left in the bank with the renewable option.  The Energy sector could deliver material improvements in energy efficiency and flexibility with the £700 million change after building the renewable projects.  If we consider the latest estimate of £37 billion cost of Hinkley C, then we would have over £19 billion left to invest in smart systems, storage and energy efficiency to improve the electricity system to allow it to utilise more renewable generation.</li>
</ol>
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The UK’s renewable energy capacity grew to 30GW in 2015, having installed 5.4 GW of new renewable generation over the course of 2015[1] . On this basis the required renewable generation capacity to match the generation of Hinkley C could be delivered in less than two years at a lower cost. I fully appreciate that a mix of energy sources is desirable, but my question is: Is Nuclear the best use of investment in the sector, and can we not be a little smarter in our approach?  We could deliver revolutionary, structural change in terms of energy efficiency, flexibility and storage with a budget of £19 billion, ultimately requiring less generation capacity, lowering cost and reducing Green House Gas emissions.
Even as technology stands at the moment wind, solar and hydro can undercut the £101/MWh[2] which has been promised to Hinkley C by more than 25%. When savings are reaching billions of pounds, there is scope to take more innovative steps to both the demand and supply of electricity.
<hr />
[1]  DECC Energy Trends 2016
[2]  The £92.50 / MWh Feed in Tariff offered to Hinkley C is in 2012 money. Adjusting the Tariff to 2016 is £101 / MWh
</div>
</div>
</div>

Hinkley will take at least ten years to build, in the meantime, can renewables step up and bridge the gap?

Big plans, time is money - The nuclear agenda

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>

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 know there’s a lot more left to do, but it’s important to celebrate the positives (no matter how small!) so that we start the New Year feeling even more motivated in our mission to accelerate the UK energy transition.   
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 <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/675bfaa4cfbf84c3b2bcf986/clean-power-2030-action-plan.pdf">Government’s Clean Power 2030 action plan</a>, 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 &#8211; 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.

Newsletter CTA

caton-winter-2

caton winter 2

We look back on some of the renewable energy wins from 2024. 

2024 in review: Reasons to be climate positive this Christmas

Thrive has made a significant investment in Gulliver, which is now nearly 20 years old, to ensure it runs reliably into the future  &#8211; generating clean power for homes and businesses across the UK.  The 2.75MW turbine is capable of generating clean electricity for more than 2,200 average UK homes a year.

The replacement turbine parts fitted during the overhaul are refurbished parts from a windfarm in the Netherlands – a great example of reuse.  The blades and nacelle were thoroughly assessed and tested and are expected to operate efficiently for years to come.
Gulliver’s old blades are currently being repurposed into bicycle shelters in the Netherlands. Other components have been made available for resale or are being broken down for recycling.
Since Thrive invested in the project in 2005, Lowestoft has become a growing hub for renewables. The Orbis Energy Centre has been established next door to Ness Point wind turbine – a flagship focus for the east of England’s renewables network and home to a range of innovative organisations supporting the sector. Lowestoft is also central for servicing the growing number of offshore wind farms in the area. 
In the latest round of Thrive’s Community Benefit Programme which provides energy efficiency grants to community hubs near its projects, Seething and Mundham Village Hall near Ness Point was awarded £980 to install LED lighting. The measures will help the popular community centre reduce its energy bills and carbon footprint.

Works taking place during overhaul of Ness Point wind turbine. 

ness-point

ness point

The nacelle and blades have been replaced to secure the turbine’s long term future.  

Ness Point wind turbine back in action following successful overhaul

We are committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2030 via the SME climate hub &#8211; a non-profit global initiative that empowers small to medium sized companies to take climate action and build resilient businesses for the future. By reporting on our emissions, we’re able to better understand the sources of them, whilst demonstrating transparency on our journey to net zero.
<a href="https://cms-admin.thriverenewables.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Thrive-Climate-Report-2023-FINAL.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Thrive’s latest climate report</a> for 2023 highlights key updates on our path to net zero by the end of the decade:
<ul>
<li>Maintained scope 1 and 2 emissions at zero (down from a baseline of 2.9 tCO2e in 2019). *</li>
<li>For the second year running, we reported comprehensive emissions estimates across our seven relevant scope 3 categories, which include all areas relating to the construction and operation of our clean energy projects.</li>
<li>Reduced carbon intensity of business travel by 17% in 2023 compared to 2022.</li>
<li>Calculated avoided emissions (sometimes referred to as scope 4) to illustrate the wider carbon impact of the business.</li>
</ul>
Emission reductions are the emissions ‘avoided’ from the operation of our portfolio of clean energy projects. These serve as a key metric to illustrate the wider positive carbon impact of the business.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8005" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/NZ-report-24-graph.png" alt="" width="903" height="405" srcset="https://cms-admin.thriverenewables.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/NZ-report-24-graph.png 903w, https://cms-admin.thriverenewables.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/NZ-report-24-graph-300x135.png 300w, https://cms-admin.thriverenewables.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/NZ-report-24-graph-768x344.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 903px) 100vw, 903px" />
It is important to note that 2022 was a very successful year for project construction and that our reported emissions include the full construction footprint of three new projects. By comparison in 2023, our reported emissions only include the construction of one small rooftop project. Despite this yearly variation in our highest emissions area, it is useful to see how much greater our avoided emissions are in both years.
Our eyes are now fixed on the 2024 reporting year as we continue rolling out more clean energy projects and helping businesses to decarbonise. We are committed to continually reporting our emissions and reviewing our strategy on an annual basis.
*Thrive’s emissions are reported using The Greenhouse Gas protocol framework that splits emissions into three categories:
Scope 1 – Direct emissions from sources that a company owns or controls directly e.g. the gas used for our heating.
Scope 2 – Indirect emissions coming from the energy it purchases and uses e.g. the electricity powering our office.
Scope 3 – Indirect emissions resulting from sources that are not controlled or owned by the company. For example, the resulting emissions from our supply chain or employee commuting and business travel.

avonmouth-yellow-flowers

Avonmouth yellow flowers

Our positive contribution to reducing UK emissions far outweighs our carbon footprint. But we take responsibility for the emissions we make in the course of our operations.

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