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To help fund this exciting period of growth, today we have launched a new share offer on the Triodos Bank Crowdfunding platform, aiming to raise £5 million to build new clean energy projects that will cut carbon emissions, help reduce household bills and benefit communities.
<a href="https://www.triodoscrowdfunding.co.uk/invest/thrive-renewables" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Read the offer document and invest</a>.
You will need to register for Triodos Bank’s crowdfunding platform to access the offer document. 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/">Take 2 mins to learn more</a>. 
Our co-investment partnership with TopCashback Sustainability, will enable us to deploy an additional £40 million of capital by match funding what we invest. We’ve also recently announced a new joint venture with leading social impact investor, Better Society Capital, bringing together £40 million for community-owned wind and solar projects across the UK. Fair Play Clean Energy, Thrive’s joint venture with TopCashback Sustainability, will provide £20 million of the investment, with Better Society Capital providing matched funding.

Strong financial performance 
Last year saw us make significant progress with our growth strategy, securing the rights to build a 12.6MW wind farm in Wales and 57MW wind farm in the Scottish Borders, which is now under construction.
These new deals complement our existing operational portfolio of 24 projects which generated £11.3 million in operating profit (£9.3 million in profit after tax and minority interests) on a revenue of £26 million in 2024. In 2024, 20.6 million was reinvested back into building new renewable projects, while our existing wind, solar and hydro projects generated over 132,000 MWh of clean electricity and delivered emissions reductions equivalent to 61,810 tCO₂e.
A dividend of 12 pence per share has been recommended by the board for shareholder approval at the AGM in June. If approved, the dividend will be paid in July 2025.
Other recent developments include the construction of the ATTIX CIC community-owned wind turbine in Kilbirnie and the installation of the generation turbine at United Downs in Cornwall, with both sites expected to be operational in the coming months.

Now open, the minimum investment in the crowdfunding offer is £247 (100 shares) and shares can be held in a self-invested personal pension (SIPP). The company is targeting 5-8% return per year through a combination of dividends and increasing share value. This should be seen as a long-term investment. As with all investments, returns are not guaranteed, and investors may not get back all, or any, of their original investment.
<a href="https://www.triodoscrowdfunding.co.uk/invest/thrive-renewables" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Read the offer document</a>.
You should read the offer document in full before deciding whether to invest. Investing in the shares of a company involves risks, including potential for loss of capital and future dilution, lack of dividends and lack of liquidity, and should only be considered as part of a diversified investment portfolio. If you are unsure as to the suitability of the investment, you should contact an independent financial advisor.
This financial promotion was approved on 7 May 2025 by Triodos Bank UK Limited, registered in England and Wales with no. 11379025. Registered Office: Deanery Road, Bristol BS1 5AS, United Kingdom. Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority under registration number 817008.

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We’re looking to raise £5 million to help fund our project pipeline, including two ready to build onshore wind farms totalling over 69MW. 

Thrive launches new share offer following record year of capacity growth

Featured

The project aims to connect up to 4,000 homes with the sustainable heat from the granite rocks almost 5,300 metres below the United Downs industrial site. The heat used to power electricity turbines generating clean energy for the grid will also keep the local community warm once the Langarth Network is operational.
The latest funding is part of the government’s £288 million Green Heat Network Fund that is intended to help new and existing heat networks move to low and zero carbon technologies. The new funding will support the Langarth Heat Network in building crucial infrastructure to connect heat from United Downs to local housing, hospital, schools and college.  
Thrive provided the first commercial funding for United Downs, and in 2023, invested a further £3 million to fund completion of the project by 2024. We look forward to seeing how new government funding will help maximise the benefits of this pioneering project, with excess heat from the site being used to provide cleaner, cheaper heating in the local area.

The site operator – Geothermal Engineering Limited (GEL)– predicts United Downs will deliver 2MWe of baseload electricity once operational, and up to 10MWth of zero carbon heat to benefit thousands of local residents and businesses.  
GEL have also found a high concentration of lithium in the geothermal fluids at United Downs. Research is currently being conducted into how this could be used for local, low-carbon lithium production which could then be used to support the rollout of electric cars in the UK.  
Geothermal plays a crucial role in the UK’s transition to net zero and it’s encouraging to see Cornwall’s significant geothermal resources harnessed, with plans for two new sites already in place.

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£22 million awarded to UK’s first deep geothermal heat network at United Downs.

First steps for United Downs to heat local homes thanks to new government funding

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In what was a record-breaking year for wind power in the UK, we saw strong operational performance across our portfolio – generating 133,858 MWh of clean electricity, enough to power 38,000 homes, the equivalent to a town the size of Halifax.[3] Our clean energy projects also delivered 58,314 tonnes in carbon emissions reductions. [5]
Shareholders received a dividend of 7 pence per share in 2022*. Reflecting positive financial results, a 12 pence per share annual dividend is recommended to be paid in July 2023.
2022 showed us once again that we need to accelerate the UK’s transition to a renewables-based energy system, not only to tackle the climate emergency but to reduce soaring energy bills and end the UK’s reliance on expensive fossil fuels. In total, Thrive installed 6MW of new clean energy capacity during the year with a further 25MW in construction.
Over the past 12 months, we’re proud to have succeeded in our mission to connect more people with clean energy, welcoming over 900 new shareholders to the Thrive community as part of a successful crowdfund with Triodos Bank. A total of £6.8 million was raised which, alongside the additional profits generated from our existing portfolio, is being used to fund new clean energy projects.
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In terms of delivering our mission, another one of our 2022 highlights was funding the construction of England’s largest onshore wind turbine, a community-owned project in our home city of Bristol. The turbine will generate a new revenue stream for the local community in Lawrence Weston, with all profits from electricity sales reinvested locally, acting as a driver for regeneration in a deprived area.
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In 2023, we expect to see new ‘direct wire’ on-site commercial solar rooftop arrays installed, construction of the ground-breaking United Downs geothermal electricity generating project in Cornwall and our second battery storage site – a 20MW project in Bristol will be fully operational. There are also a number of new investments which are currently in the pipeline.

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As a certified B Corporation, we were recognised as a ‘Best for the World’ B Corp for the second year running, scoring in the top 5% globally for our positive impact on the environment. Thrive’s commitment to building a cleaner, more sustainable world also saw us publish our net zero strategy in 2022, committing to achieving net zero emissions by 2030, as well as our biodiversity policy which outlines our plans to protect and enhance nature close to our clean energy sites.
We are also pleased that our voluntary Community Benefit Programme, which provides grants for energy efficiency improvements in community centres and village halls close to our sites, helped provide warm spaces for vulnerable people last winter. Working with the Centre for Sustainable Energy, we provided over £30,000 worth of funding to ten community buildings in 2022.  This included awarding £4,000 to Eastside Community Trust, who run the Easton Community Centre in Bristol, so that it could install essential pipe and loft insulation. Addressing heat loss in the building as well as high energy bills, the improvements have helped the team reduce their operational costs and create a warmer, cosier and more inviting space for residents to enjoy.
Fuel poverty is a massive issue so we were also pleased to be given the opportunity to support the Centre for Sustainable Energy’s Warm Homes campaign, which will help them continue providing essential advice and support for those who are struggling.
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* Please remember that past performance cannot be relied on as a guide to future returns
[1] Impact Portfolio describing Thrive’s share of projects owned plus the projects Thrive is funding.
[2] Calculated using the most recent statistics from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) showing that UK average domestic household consumption is 3,509 kWh per annum <a href="https://www.renewableuk.com/page/UKWEDExplained" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.renewableuk.com/page/UKWEDExplained</a>
[3] Average residents per household 2.4 (<a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/families/bulletins/familiesandhouseholds/2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/families/bulletins/familiesandhouseholds/2020</a>), Population of Halifax is 91,338 (<a href="https://www.thegeographist.com/uk-cities-population-1000/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.thegeographist.com/uk-cities-population-1000/</a>)
[4] The average electricity consumption of an electric vehicle is 270Wh/mile (<a href="https://ev-database.org/uk/cheatsheet/energy-consumption-electric-car" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://ev-database.uk/cheatsheet/energy-consumption-electric-car</a>) and vehicle licensing statistics: 2021 &#8211; (<a class="js-scroll-done" href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/vehicle-licensing-statistics-2021/vehicle-licensing-statistics-2021#licensed-electric-vehicles" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-anchor="#licensed-electric-vehicles">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/vehicle-licensing-statistics-2021/vehicle-licensing-statistics-2021#licensed-electric-vehicles</a>), average annual car mileage is 5,300 miles (<a class="js-scroll-done" href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/nts09-vehicle-mileage-and-occupancy#car-mileage" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-anchor="#car-mileage">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/nts09-vehicle-mileage-and-occupancy#car-mileage</a>), reported UK electric car fleet as of May 2022 is 421,230 (<a class="js-scroll-done" href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/vehicle-licensing-statistics-2021/vehicle-licensing-statistics-2021#licensed-electric-vehicles" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-anchor="#licensed-electric-vehicles">https://www.</a><a class="js-scroll-done" href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/vehicle-licensing-statistics-2021/vehicle-licensing-statistics-2021#licensed-electric-vehicles" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-anchor="#licensed-electric-vehicles">gov.uk/government/statistics/vehicle-licensing-statistics-2021/vehicle-licensing-statistics-2021#licensed-electric-vehicles</a>), and average annual mileage of 93,562 Electric Vehicles, (22.2% of the UK’s Electric Car Fleet)
[5] RenewableUK uses BEIS’s “all non-renewable fuels” emissions statistic of 432 tonnes of carbon dioxide per GWh of electricity supplied in the Digest of UK Energy Statistics (July 2022) Table 5.14 (“Estimated carbon dioxide emissions from electricity supplied”). Carbon reduction calculated by multiplying the total amount of renewable electricity generated by Thrive’s impact portfolio per year by the number of tonnes of carbon which fossil fuels would have produced to generate the same amount of electricity.
[6] We are not able to source a nationally recognised means of calculating the water saving generated by generating electricity using wind and solar. The power sector consumes over 40% of Europe’s water, mainly for cooling purposes. Nuclear consumes approximately 2.7m3/MWh, gas plants 0.7m3/MWh and coal plants 1.9m3/MWh (<a href="https://www.ewea.org/fileadmin/files/library/publications/reports/Saving_water_with_wind_energy.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.ewea.org/fileadmin/files/library/publications/ reports/Saving_water_with_wind_energy.pdf</a>). Our crude, but intentionally conservative analysis, using the UKs 2021 generation mix (<a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1064800/Energy_Trends_March_2022.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1064800/Energy_Trends_March_2022.pdf</a>), provides a conservative average water consumption per MWh figure which attributes no water consumption to other thermal sources such as oil and bioenergy, or hydro. We have multiplied Thrive’s generation by this factor, assuming that if our renewable projects had not generated this electricity, the UK grid mix would have.
[7] Includes Community Benefit Programme donations, CSE winter campaign donation, a number of individual site related donations and our community open day hosted at Avonmouth wind farm.
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Thrive renewables open day in Avonmouth. September 2022.

From funding England’s largest, community-owned onshore wind turbine to a £6.8 million crowdfund – connecting more people to clean energy.

Thrive announces £6.7 million operating profit for 2022 – Plus £11.4 million cash allocated to build new clean energy projects

We were pleased to be shortlisted for the Green Finance award, based on our innovative approach to finance which last year saw us fund new clean energy projects including onshore wind, solar and battery storage, as well as community-based assets like England’s largest onshore wind turbine.
The team had a great time attending the ceremony at the London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square and were thrilled to be called up on stage to collect the award on the night!

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A fantastic evening spent with lots of inspirational businesses making a genuine impact.

Green finance award win! Celebrating the businesses making a difference at the Better Society Awards

The theme for this year’s Earth Day is “Invest in our Planet” – a continuation from 2022. The decision to continue last year’s theme points to both its timeliness and significance. Highlighting the importance of dedicating our time, resources and energy to solving climate change, the theme also speaks more widely to how tackling environmental issues not only leads to a greener world, but to a fairer and wealthier world. This was the message from the IPCC’s most recent climate change report, which called for urgent and ambitious action, emphasising the wider social and economic benefits that will come with this – green jobs and access to more affordable energy to name just a couple of examples.

As an ethical business that prioritises its social impact just as much as its environmental one, this year’s Earth Day theme is relevant on a number of levels. Our mission is to power the transition to a sustainable energy future by helping people meaningfully connect with clean energy projects. We do this by investing in new renewable energy projects, diversifying our portfolio which now includes wind, solar, hydro and battery storage. Building new clean energy sites across the UK is essential for reducing our reliance on harmful, expensive fossil fuels, but also for facilitating a fairer energy system and providing direct benefits to local communities – a focus on local, homegrown renewables is fundamental to our investment approach and underpins our wider mission.  
<h3>Powering communities </h3>
For us, an essential part of “investing in our planet” is investing in local and direct wire renewables. Not only do local renewables reduce the pressure on the grid, but they also benefit communities directly by providing access to cleaner, cheaper energy and in many instances, providing green jobs in the local area.  
We’re proud to have funded the construction of England’s largest wind turbine that’s 100% community owned. Revenues generated from the 4.2MW turbine will be reinvested back into the local area in Lawrence Weston, Bristol, helping to drive regeneration. Also in our home city of Bristol, we’ve offered a local community group shared ownership of our 20MW battery storage project. We’re the first commercial owners in the UK to offer shared ownership of our standalone battery project like this and we’re excited to see money raised from the generation being put towards local causes.  
Via our Community Benefit Programme, we offer energy efficiency grants to community centres close to our sites so they can reduce their carbon footprint while reducing running costs. In the latest round of the programme, we offered over £30,000 worth of funding to 10 community centres, including Easton Community Centre in East Bristol. Our £4,000 grant was put towards installing pipe and loft insulation, helping the to create a warmer and more welcoming space so that the centre could continue running its vital community services.  
<h3>Creating a sustainable workplace </h3>
“Everyone accounted for, and everyone accountable” – Earth Day calls on all of us to play our part in addressing the climate emergency, emphasising the key role that businesses have in this. As an Impact driven business we continually review our governance and processes to ensure we’re maximising our environmental impact while also providing a positive workplace for our team. We’re a proud B Corp and have for the second-year running been awarded ‘Best for the World’, ranking us among the top 5% of all B Corps in the environment category. As part of B Corp’s Climate Collective we’ve pledged to meet Net Zero by 2030. To date, the clean energy projects we have built have saved over 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, however we’re continuing to focus on further reducing our emissions, measuring our performance against the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.  
We offer sustainable travel incentives for our team, including a bike to work scheme and Climate Perks which grants employees extra paid holiday when choosing sustainable travel. Our office building itself is BREEAM Excellent Certified and all our power is sustainably sourced.   
<h3>Protecting and enhancing biodiversity </h3>
Biodiversity loss goes hand in hand with climate change and is an essential aspect to address when discussing what it means to “invest in our planet”. Whenever we invest in a new clean energy project, we commit to conserving and enhancing the site’s biodiversity as set out in our biodiversity policy. For example, at our battery storage site in Feeder Road, we’ve installed a number of bird, bat and invertebrate boxes, as well as planting trees, hedgerows, species rich grassland, shade scrub and native ferns that will strengthen local habitat corridors and provide wildlife with food, nectar and pollen. We pledge to achieve 10% Biodiversity Net Gain from all projects developed after 2022 with the aim of exceeding this target where possible. 
While we’re always looking at how we can maximise our environmental impact, global celebration of the climate action movement, like Earth Day, are important for inspiring the mass action that needs to be taken in the climate emergency. There are plenty of ways to get involved in Earth Day. To find events in your area and access a range of online talks and articles, make sure to visit the <a href="https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2023/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">official Earth Day website.</a>

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Hear our thoughts on this year’s theme as we consider Thrive’s role in tackling the climate emergency and the wider impact of building a sustainable future.

Earth Day 2023: What does it mean to "invest in our planet?"

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The aim of the Green Energy Awards is to celebrate the best projects, leading organisations and inspiring people that make up the renewable energy and energy efficiency sector, so were pleased to be shortlisted for two awards this year – net zero energy developer and net zero energy pioneer for our investment director, Monika.
We were thrilled to come home with one of those awards, winning net zero energy developer of the year against some stiff competition! The judges were complimentary not just about what we’ve achieved in terms of capacity, but our mix of technologies, innovative approach to finance and our collaborations with both business and communities.
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We had a brilliant time celebrating all the individuals and businesses working hard to deliver a cleaner, better future in the UK.

Winning Net Zero Energy Developer of the Year at the 2023 Green Energy Awards

In what some dubbed ‘energy security day’ and others called ‘green day’, the government formally responded last week, publishing a myriad of policy documents (more than 2,800 pages!) including its updated energy security, net zero and green finance strategies. The results were largely underwhelming – with a focus on technologies that are unproven and have poor, or no track record when it comes to deployment. Below we explore some of the key announcements made and what it means for our transition to a renewables-based energy system.
<h3>We shouldn&#8217;t be ignoring technologies that are cheap and easy to deploy</h3>
We were happy to see some positive announcements around offshore wind, solar and green hydrogen, along with some important consultations which will provide more clarity for these technologies in the years to come. However, it’s fair to say that the focus for new funding and policy was very much directed at nuclear and carbon capture and storage (CCS).
When delivering the Spring Budget, Jeremy Hunt launched a consultation to classify nuclear power as ‘environmentally sustainable’. It was therefore no surprise to see the government confirming that it would be scaling up the UK’s nuclear programme through its new ‘Great British Nuclear’ scheme, with the ambition to ramp up nuclear capacity to 24GW by 2050. As well as nuclear, the government used its ‘energy security day’ to reiterate its support for CCS, confirming up to £20 billion in funding.
As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated recently, when it comes to net zero, there’s no time to waste – this really is our last chance to get it right. The issue is that small nuclear and CCS are still unproven and will take years to deliver. Renewables such as onshore wind and solar are some of the quickest to deploy and are already delivering cheaper, cleaner power to industry and local communities in the UK. The huge potential for renewable generation was also highlighted in Chris Skidmore’s recent <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-net-zero" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mission Zero report</a> – an independent review of the government’s net zero strategy which resulted in 129 recommendations that would allow the UK to better reap the economic, environmental and social benefits of net zero. According to<a href="https://www.businessgreen.com/analysis/4090316/vague-ugly-government-responded-chris-skidmores-net-zero-review"> BusinessGreen</a>, less than half of those recommendations will be taken forward.
While we await further clarification on the consultation into its National Planning Policy Framework, which would make building new onshore wind turbines easier in England, we welcome the government’s decision to make planning easier for solar, committing to developing a ‘solar roadmap’ that will set out the pathway to reaching 70 GW of solar generation capacity by 2035. It also announced a pledge to establish a joint taskforce to drive further growth.
<h3>A local route to net zero</h3>
Another of the measures identified in the Mission Zero report was the need for a Local Electricity Bill. Recognising the role communities have to play in the clean energy transition, Chris Skidmore suggested that alongside the Bill, the government should publish ‘a Community Energy Strategy that addresses the regulatory, legislative, funding and capacity barriers in the sector’, as well as the support available for innovative projects.
We’re big believers that, by introducing a Local Electricity Bill, the country could unlock the huge potential for small-scale, local energy systems which remove some of the technical challenges we currently face when it comes to transmitting energy. Not only do community energy projects help to bring cleaner, cheaper power to more homes and businesses across the UK, but they also create new jobs and acts as a driver for regeneration. Our recent work with Ambition Community Energy is an example of this in action – the group will be able to use the revenues from England’s largest onshore wind turbine to plug back into local good causes, including building an Energy Learning Zone which will help to upskill residents in Lawrence Weston, Bristol, for green careers. Unfortunately, it cannot currently supply electricity directly to local homes – which is something the Local Electricity Bill would help to address.
Dismissing the need for a community energy strategy, the government confirmed that it will continue to work with the sector through the Community Energy Contact Group on some of the key policy and delivery issues which impact the sector, as well as providing support to local authorities and community energy groups through its ‘local net zero hubs’.
As well as prioritising large-scale, early development projects, we think smaller, community-based projects have a huge role to play as part of a bottom-up transition that would allow us to decarbonise at the scale required for net zero. None of these changes will prevent us providing continued funding to community groups looking to build their own clean energy projects, building on the £16 million we have already invested in community-based wind and solar projects across the UK.
<h3>‘Everything, everywhere, all at once’</h3>
In March, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) delivered its “final warning” on the climate emergency, confirming the urgency of taking more ambitious action and adding that, if we act now, we can still secure a more sustainable future. On releasing the report, the UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, said that “Our world needs climate action on all fronts: everything, everywhere, all at once.”
Coming just a couple of weeks later, it feels like the government has missed an opportunity when it comes to low-cost, homegrown renewables, focusing more heavily on technologies and policies that will take a long time to start delivering and are more expensive than proven renewable technologies.
We now need quick and decisive action to ensure the UK not only stays on track to meet its decarbonisation goals but also incentivises further green investment moving forwards. While the government continues its consultations, for us it’s all about getting things done. We’ll continue funding and building new clean energy projects that contribute to the UK’s net zero goals and deliver cleaner, cheaper power for people today.

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Following on from last week’s ‘Energy Security Day’, we unpack some of the government’s latest policy updates.

Government 'green' announcements - Some positives but lacks urgency and misses the opportunities renewables can deliver

We’re committed to helping these centres continue to thrive by providing energy efficiency grants for community buildings via <a href="/our-impact/community-benefit-programme/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our Community Benefit Programme</a>. Working with the <a href="https://www.cse.org.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Centre for Sustainable Energy</a>, we provided over £30,000 worth of funding to ten community buildings located close to our clean energy sites in 2022.  
Included in the list of grantees was the <a href="https://eastsidecommunitytrust.org.uk/our-places/easton-community-centre/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Easton Community Centre</a>, which is located near to our 20MW battery storage project at Feeder Road in East Bristol. Eastside Community Trust which runs the centre, as well as the Felix Road Adventure Playground, identified heat loss and rising energy costs as a significant problem. We’re thrilled to have been able to support the centre in addressing these issues by providing a £4,000 grant that has helped them to install essential loft and pipe insulation.  
These energy efficiency improvements have helped the team to reduce their operational costs at a time when it’s really needed, ensuring they can continue providing a warm and comfortable space for the local community to enjoy.  
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The upgrades we have supported the centre with also mean that they can continue offering vital services to residents, which ranges from community advice on energy efficiency and retrofitting to providing a base for Bristol’s Somali Youth Voice – a grassroots organisation that advocates for and empowers disadvantaged young people living in the city. As well as this, the centre is home to Somali Kitchen – a women-led CIC offering advice and volunteering opportunities to Somali women, the BCfm community radio station, HIV &amp; Aids charity Brigstow, the Raised In Bristol nursery and Houria CIC, an anti-racist café and catering business supporting migrant women and those escaping modern slavery.  
It’s a place where the community can seek advice and share ideas, or simply have a warm, safe haven to rely on.
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As well as the Easton Community Centre, the other buildings we have supported over the past year include Knowle West Media Centre in Bristol, Birsay Community Hall in Orkney, Colne Village Hall in Cambridgeshire, Helmdon Reading Room near Milton Keynes and Strichen Playgroup in Aberdeenshire.

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During round six of our Community Benefit Programme, we provided £4k in funding to Eastside Community Trust so it could continue providing a warm & welcoming space to the local community.

“We like to call it the neighbourhood's living room": Shining a light on our Community Benefit Programme with Easton Community Centre

That’s why we’re thrilled to be teaming up with community energy group, Bristol Energy Cooperative, to give local residents the opportunity to own a share in our 20 MW battery located on Feeder Road in Bristol. This is the first time in the UK that an owner has offered the local community an opportunity for shared ownership of a standalone commercial battery project.  
The battery is currently being commissioned and when it’s live will have the capacity to store and deliver 1.5 hours or 30MWh of electricity to the national and local grid. Not only will the project provide crucial flexibility and balancing services, but the agreement with BEC means that local causes will be able to benefit from a share of any revenues generated.

We’ve invested a total of £29 million in clean energy projects across Bristol, funding more than a third of the city’s renewable electricity generation and storage capacity (37%)*. This includes our 8.2MW wind farm in Avonmouth and the £4 million loan we provided to Ambition Community Energy (ACE) to fund the construction of England’s largest community-owned onshore wind turbine.  
The local community have been heavily involved since the start of the project. In 2020, the site was originally signposted for a diesel-fuelled STOR plant however, thanks to a successful planning appeal from a group of residents in St Phillip’s Marsh, the project was shelved. <a href="https://rade-bristol.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">‘Residents Against Dirty Energy’ (RADE)</a> is now helping to support groups facing similar issues elsewhere. 
With construction now complete, our team has also developed a landscape plan for Feeder Road that will help to protect and enhance the biodiversity of the site. We’ve focused on providing the resident wildlife with more places to nest and shelter. This includes installing a number of bird, bat and invertebrate boxes, as well as planting trees, hedgerows, species rich grassland, shade scrub and native ferns that will strengthen local habitat corridors and provide wildlife with food, nectar and pollen. The biodiversity improvements at the site will amount to a total investment of £100,000.

*Based on non-combustion renewables including wind, solar and battery storage, excluding anaerobic digesters and energy from waste. 
<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/renewable-energy-planning-database-monthly-extract">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/renewable-energy-planning-database-monthly-extract</a>

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Bristol Energy Cooperative will be able to make a co-investment of up to 20%.

Powering our communities: Thrive becomes the first commercial battery owner to offer shared ownership to local community group

The increase was, in part, due to higher levels of wind in 2022, with our 13 onshore wind projects responsible for producing over 90% of total generation for the year.
In fact, National Grid ESO reported that wind farms contributed <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/britain-produced-record-amount-wind-power-2022-national-grid-2023-01-06/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a record 26.8% of the country’s electricity in 2022</a>, with a new milestone for wind generation set on 30 December, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/03/uk-sets-new-record-for-turbine-power-generation-after-period-of-low-wind" target="_blank" rel="noopener">when 20.91 GW were produced by the UK’s fleet of onshore and offshore turbines</a>. The ESO also said a new record was set for the share of electricity on the grid coming from zero-carbon sources, which supplied 87.2% of total power on the same date.
As a result of strong generation from wind and solar, the UK also saw substantial carbon emissions reductions in 2022, with <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-uk-emissions-fall-3-4-in-2022-as-coal-use-drops-to-lowest-level-since-1757/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new analysis from Carbon Brief</a> finding that greenhouse gas emissions fell by 3.4% in total.

According to Regen and National Grid ESO’s study ‘A Day in the Life’, we need 35 GW of onshore wind by 2035 to meet net zero.  The government’s recent consultation, which was seeking viewpoints on proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework, will determine the future of onshore wind in England, after a 2015 amendment made it almost impossible to build new projects. By removing the amendment and returning to the levels of deployment that were being achieved prior to 2015, the UK would be able to deliver cheaper bills for consumers, improve its energy independence, support new jobs and, ultimately, achieve net zero.
It was positive to see the government addressing repowering as part of the consultation and we look forward to receiving further clarification on this. Replacing England&#8217;s aging wind turbines with more efficient models will help to produce more renewable electricity, which can then be used to complement new wind projects in delivering the capacity required for net zero. It is essential in the context of the global climate emergency and the UK’s decarbonisation efforts that we do not lose any of our existing onshore fleet.
In 2006, we successfully replaced 10 turbines with just 8 more modern and efficient machines at our Caton Moor wind farm in Lancashire. With two fewer turbines, and only a small increase in the height of each, output from the site was increased seven-fold to 47 million kWh of electricity per annum.

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We generated enough renewable electricity to power all the homes in a town the size of Halifax.

Blown away: Generation levels up significantly following record-breaking year for wind power

The new funding will be used to complete construction of the project by 2024. The site operator – Geothermal Engineering Limited – predicts United Downs will deliver 2Mwe of baseload electricity once operational, and up to 10MWth of zero carbon heat, which will be used by a large housing estate at Langarth, developed by Cornwall Council.
£15 million has been raised in total, with an additional £12 million has been investment from Kerogen, a private equity fund manager specialising in international energy.

Thrive made the first commercial investment of £3 million into United Downs in January 2020 to support final testing and preparation of wells at the site, as well as £0.47 million into Geogen in 2021 to fund planning applications for additional potential geothermal sites in the UK. Two of these sites – Penhallow and Manhay – have now received planning permission.

The UK has significant geothermal resources which, if harnessed, can play an important role in both the UK’s energy security and its transition to net zero. Geothermal technology offers a homegrown, low carbon and sustainable form of energy. Crucially, this technology is capable of generating 24/7 baseload power, enabling the UK to diversify its energy market whilst providing large scale and predictable capacity.
It also holds significant potential for local, low-carbon lithium production – with GEL finding a high concentration of lithium in the geothermal fluids at United Downs – which could then be used to support the roll out of electric cars in the UK.

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After providing the first commercial funding for the United Downs Geothermal project in 2020, we’ve made an additional investment to complete construction at the site.

Thrive makes further £3 million investment to get the UK's first deep geothermal plant into operation

The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is ‘Embrace Equity’, with an aim to get the world talking about why equal opportunities aren&#8217;t enough. People start from different places, so true inclusion and belonging require equitable action.
To mark the occasion, we caught up with our chair, Jo Butlin, who has had an impressive 25-year career leading and operating energy businesses across the UK, with roles including E.ON UK, SmartestEnergy and Utilyx. In 2017, she also set up her own consulting company, EnergyBridge Limited, to help businesses and investors navigate the evolving energy market.
Empowering other women is something Jo is incredibly passionate about, which is why she co-founded the Women&#8217;s Utilities Network (WUN), a not-for-profit which supports women working in the utilities industries to connect, develop and encourage one another.
Watch the video below to hear Jo’s thoughts on how the energy industry can become more diverse, equitable, and inclusive and her tips for other women looking to break the ‘glass ceiling’ in industries which have been traditionally dominated by men.

International Women's Day 2023

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We hear from Jo about her career in the energy industry, how she thinks it can improve and prioritise diversity and her advice for others looking to progress in traditionally male dominated sectors.

Be brave, be authentic, be prepared to move: Our chair, Jo Butlin, shares her thoughts on leadership for International Women's Day

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One of the main ways Thrive goes beyond is by reducing harmful carbon dioxide emissions, ultimately tackling the climate crisis. In fact, since we began with our mission in 1994, our projects have generated over two million MWh of clean electricity. That’s enough to power over 508,000 average UK homes for a year &#8211; delivering carbon emissions reductions equivalent to 917,517 tCO2e.
Below we hear from some of our newest team members to find out about what they love about the environment, why other businesses need to prioritise impact and what working for a B Corp means to them.
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We’re proud of being a B Corp, having spent close to 30 years working to build a fairer, cleaner future. As we kick off B Corp month, some of our latest recruits share what it’s like working for a company that puts people and planet first.

Thrive's newest team members share the reasons why #wegobeyond for B Corp month

According to the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, a “just transition seeks to centre the interests of those that are most affected by the low-carbon transition, including workers, vulnerable communities, suppliers of goods and services, specifically small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and consumers.”  
We truly believe in the need for climate action to be fair and inclusive and have been balancing the needs of people with those of the planet for 30 years. Here are just some of the ways Thrive is working to ensure we achieve a just energy transition in the UK. 
Helping ordinary people to take a stake in the transition 
We believe in the power of together. A world where everyone can be part of the clean energy generation. Putting money to work building new sustainable energy projects, we empower people to take action to address the climate emergency. To help us directly fund and build new clean energy projects, we raise the majority of our capital through crowdfunding – making the UK energy transition more accessible by allowing large numbers of people to be part of the solution.  
Facilitating community ownership 
Recognising the appetite of local communities to build and own their own renewable projects, we created our award-winning community energy funding bridge in 2017 to provide funding certainty and expertise. The first project we facilitated was at Mean Moor in Cumbria, enabling the local community group to purchase the 6.9 MW wind farm, which was repaid in 2019. It meant that Mean Moor became the first commercial scale wind farm in the country to transfer to 100% community ownership.  
Since then, we’ve invested over £21 million into six community-led wind and solar projects including England’s largest onshore wind project based in our home city of Bristol. The Ambition Community Energy turbine provides a deprived community with a source of revenue, while preparing local people to take their place in the changing green economy through community-based advice, support and upskilling. 
Supporting businesses to decarbonise  
We help businesses to decarbonise by funding direct wire renewable projects e.g. installing a wind turbine or solar array on their commercial premises. Providing them with a direct supply of clean power, we empower businesses to take their place in the UK’s energy transition, while cutting costs and reducing the carbon consumption of their operations.  
We first invested in direct wire back in 2010, building projects including a 5MW wind farm on the Airfield Industrial Estate in Mid-Suffolk, which to this day provides clean electricity to a big local employer. As well as helping the company to better manage its energy costs, the project also makes an annual contribution to Mid-Suffolk District Council which is then distributed to worthwhile community initiatives. Fast forward 14 years and we’ve invested in three direct wire wind projects, as well as a portfolio of solar rooftops for schools and businesses across the UK. 
Working collaboratively as a force for good 
We believe in looking beyond profit, putting as much emphasis on environmental and social impact as we do on financial. We are a multi award-winning certified B Corp and member of Bristol Climate and Nature Partnership, Better Business Act and the SME Climate Hub, collaborating to improve business ethics and accountability.  
We recognise that as human beings we will not always get it right, but we are transparent about the challenges we face, actions we take and how decisions are made. We will continue learning, improving and working together with like-minded businesses and organisations to serve our communities and bring about positive change.

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As we celebrate 30 years generating clean energy, we share how we’re helping to accelerate a just transition so that no one is left behind in the move to a green economy.   

Vision for the future: Facilitating a just transition

Prioritising people and planet, we’ve invested in wind, solar and hydro, plus breakthrough projects like the UK’s first geothermal power plant and commercial scale tidal generation. We’ve empowered communities to take control of their energy and helped fund England’s largest onshore wind turbine that’s 100% community owned. Plus, helped businesses across the UK to decarbonise through on-site wind and solar. In total, the portfolio has generated over 2 million MWh of clean electricity and avoided the emission of more than 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Having been founded as one of the UK’s first mission driven businesses in 1994, 30 years later we’re proud to be in the top 3% of all UK B Corps for our ongoing commitment to environmental and social justice.
Thank you to everyone who’s worked with us to tackle the climate emergency together. We look forward to the next 30 years, collaborating with partners, friends and individuals to create a cleaner, fairer world for future generations.

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Since building some of the UK’s first wind turbines in the 90s, we’ve helped get a range of wind, solar and hydro projects off the ground, working together to build a cleaner, fairer world for generations to come. 

It’s our birthday! 30 years Thriving

Before heading to site, local people could meet the Thrive team and get to know the 30-year history of the project at the nearby Victoria Institute, where there were lots of family activities including face painting, crafts and more.
The day before, we visited local schools in Caton to deliver an interactive learning session all about renewable energy, before heading onto site for the children to see the wind turbines in person &#8211; bringing what they had just learnt to life.

We’d like to say a massive thank you to everyone who came to our open day and all the local organisations involved in making the day a success, with special thanks to the Victoria Institute and Caton WI for their involvement. Below are just some of the brilliant moments captured from the event.

Member of Thrive team showing visitors round the Caton Moor site

Local residents at The Victoria Institute

Member of Thrive team engaging local child in wind-themed arts and crafts

Two visitors with Caton Moor wind turbines in the background

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