News / Green Energy
Bristol partnership to enable two national green energy projects
Two Bristol-based B-Corp businesses have joined forces to deliver two national clean energy projects.
Thrive Renewables and Triodos Bank UK have launched a multimillion-pound bond to help fund two new wind farms in Scotland and Wales.
Thrive, headquartered in Bristol, has invested more than £29m locally. This includes a 20MW battery storage project on Feeder Road delivered with Bristol Energy Cooperative, offering shared community ownership.
This is not a new partnership. The two Bristol-based B Corp firms previously joined forces to raise £4m to help deliver England’s largest onshore wind turbine.
Whitelaw Brae wind farm in Scotland is Thrive Renewables’ largest project to date – photo: I&H Brown
The multimillion-pound loan to Ambition Community Energy CIC supported the development of the Lawrence Weston wind turbine, now widely cited as a “blueprint” for community ownership and regional regeneration.
Energy secretary Ed Miliband, who had visited the site in the past, praised it as an exemplar that could be replicated elsewhere in the country.
Thrive boasts a 30-year track record of being backed by more than 6,000 investors.
It has raised over £63m through crowdfunding and financed 45 renewable projects across wind, solar, hydro, storage, tidal and geothermal.
The latest update comes following Triodos Bank, with its UK headquarters in Bristol, has been named the “most active clean energy arranger” for the ninth year by the independent analyst Clean Energy Pipeline.
Among the notable funding green energy projects of Triodos includes The Solar for Schools CBS, owned and governed by the schools themselves, to make savings on energy bills and slash CO2 emissions.
The latest £5m bond offer will support a 14-turbine, 57MW wind farm in Whitelaw Brae in the Scottish border – Thrive Renewables’ largest project to date – capable of powering around 45,000 homes annually.
Funding will also go towards the three-turbine Abergorki wind farm in Rhondda Cynon Taf, expected to be operational in 2027 and supply more than 12,400 homes.
The bond, available via Triodos’s investment platform, offers a minimum investment of £25 and pays 5.5 per cent gross annual interest (interest payments and repayment of capital are not guaranteed).
The multimillion-pound loan to Ambition Community Energy CIC supported the development of the Lawrence Weston wind turbine, now widely cited as a “blueprint” for community ownership – photo: Ambition
The new bond offer is expected to allow investors looking for both a financial and social return to back new renewable energy projects.
Matthew Clayton, chief executive of Thrive Renewables, said: “For thirty years we’ve been proving that people-powered investment can accelerate the UK’s transition to clean energy.
“With this new bond, investors will be directly enabling the construction of two major wind farms, alongside strengthening the community energy movement we’ve championed for decades.
“We know many people are looking for ways to take meaningful climate action, and this offer gives them the chance to do exactly that – backing real projects, delivering real impact.”
Whitni Thomas, head of corporate finance at Triodos Bank UK, added: “Values-led investors want opportunities that combine strong climate impact with a transparent, mission-driven approach.
“By helping finance two new onshore wind farms and further community energy initiatives, investors will be contributing to the kind of systemic change the UK urgently needs.”
Main photo: Triodos
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