Thrive Renewables, the Bristol-based renewable energy investment company, aims to double the energy generation capacity in its portfolio over the next five years with the proceeds of a new £50m share offer.
Equity raised through the crowdfunding offer will be used to build new onshore wind, solar, geothermal and battery storage projects.
The firm, which has been funding, building and operating clean energy projects for nearly 30 years, is on a mission to help to transform the UK’s electricity system, reducing its reliance on imported fossil fuels and ultimately reducing household bills.
Last year it provided £4m funding to build England’s largest onshore wind turbine, the wholly community-owned, 20 MW battery on land near Lawrence Weston, as well as a total investment of £6m in the UK’s first deep geothermal electricity generation plant in Cornwall, which also has the potential for the extraction of lithium for battery manufacture.
Thrive Renewables’ pipeline includes several large-scale solar PV and battery storage projects through its £20m investment in infrastructure company Ethical Power.
These new deals complement an existing portfolio of 22 operational projects which generated £5.9m of operating profits and delivered the equivalent of 28,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions reductions in the first half of this year.
Thrive was one of the UK’s first mission-driven businesses when it founded 29 years ago in Bristol by ethical bank Triodos.
Formerly known as Triodos Renewables, it has been fully independent of Triodos since 2016, although it is based at Triodos’ Bristol city centre HQ and the bank retains a major shareholding.
Its new share offer is being promoted by Triodos Bank UK, through its crowdfunding platform and aims to raise the first £2m for Thrive Renewables as part of a wider fundraising campaign to raise £10m in the next six months and a total of £50m by 2028. It builds on a successful £6.8m crowdfunding raise last year.
Thrive Renewables managing director Matthew Clayton said: “Getting to net zero is a huge economic and social opportunity for the UK to create a cleaner, fairer, more resilient energy system, but we have to take urgent action now.
“In the context of climate emergency and the planet heating at an alarming rate, many people will find the current uncertainty and prevarication in the UK immensely frustrating.
“With the support of more than 7,000 investors, we fund and build new wind, solar, geothermal and storage projects to help reduce carbon emissions and benefit local people.”
Triodos Bank UK head of corporate finance Whitni Thomas said with COP28 starting on 30 November many people were looking for ways to take action.
“Personal investment choices are a powerful opportunity to use our money as a vote for change,2 she added.
“Thrive Renewables provides shareholders with a really clear investment proposition, enabling them to have a direct impact on the UK’s energy transition.
“They have been a pioneer in renewable energy in the UK and continue to push the sector forwards backing a wide range of technologies.”
The new investment will help Thrive to further its impact, expanding its portfolio of wind and solar projects and complementing them with the battery storage and baseload hydro and geothermal capacity needed to support the future energy system.
The company also plans to invest in more ‘private wire’ renewable generation, helping UK businesses to access a direct supply of clean electricity by funding solar and wind projects built on site at their premises.
Last year Thrive’s wind, solar and hydro projects generated just over 133,858 MWh of renewable electricity, enough to power the equivalent of over 38,000 UK homes or 22% of all UK electric vehicle journeys. Its portfolio also delivered 58,314 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions reductions
