Renewable energy investment firm Thrive Renewables has secured a £10 million loan from ethical investment bank Triodos Bank UK.
The loan will be used to fund the development and construction of new wind farms, solar PV power plants, and community-owned renewable energy projects. Thrive Renewables operates with a “blended funding” approach, accepting investment from both major financial institutions and smaller equity shareholders.
Thrive is currently running a share offer on Triodos Bank UK’s crowdfunding platform, which allows individual investors to purchase a stake in new clean energy projects; at the time of publication, this has raised over £1.8 million for new development.
Norrie Cruickshank, senior relationship manager at Triodos Bank UK, praised Thrive Renewables’ efforts, noting: “By allowing everyday investors to play a part in the systemic shift happening in the UK energy system, they are engaging people in positive climate solutions. We hope that this new finance helps them to continue to grow and excel at what they do so well.”
Matthew Clayton, CEO of Thrive Renewables, added: “With an exciting pipeline and projects progressing in construction, it’s great to be able to put this money to work straight away, helping accelerate the UK’s transition to a cleaner, fairer energy system.”
To date, Thrive Renewables has funded 45 solar PV, wind energy, hydropower, energy storage, and geothermal energy projects in its over three decades of operation in the UK renewable energy sector. Among these is the 20MW/30MWh Feeder Road battery energy storage system (BESS), which came online in January of last year and is located in Bristol, a city in which it also operates a 100% community-owned onshore wind turbine. Community ownership is a key part of Thrive Renewables’ mission; local energy cooperative Bristol Energy Cooperative offered a co-investment of 20% into the Feeder Road BESS.
More recently, August of 2024 saw Thrive Renewables enter into a joint venture with TopCashback Sustainability in order to further fund the progress of Thrive Renewables’ capacity expansion. The firms state that this joint venture has unlocked up to £80 million in capital, which is expected to be deployed to directly fund renewable energy projects across the entire UK over the next four years.
Monika Paplaczyk, chief investment officer at Thrive Renewables, recently spoke to our sister site PV Tech about the growing challenges for the UK solar sector – read it here.
