Triodos Bank backs Thrive Renewables with £10m for UK projects

• Thrive Renewables secures £10 million from Triodos Bank UK to fund new onshore wind, solar and community-owned schemes, plus repower existing assets.

Thrive Renewables, the Bristol-based pioneer that has been plugging community capital into clean power for three decades, has clinched a £10-million loan from ethical lender Triodos Bank UK. The fresh funding lands at a pivotal moment, giving Thrive the fire-power to accelerate a pipeline of onshore wind turbines, ground-mounted solar farms and community-owned schemes across Britain. 

Triodos’ facility forms part of a blended finance strategy that mixes bank lending with equity from the company’s 6,000 shareholders and periodic crowdfunding offers. By diversifying its capital stack, Thrive says it can push projects from planning consent to energisation more quickly—critical as the UK races to double onshore wind and triple solar capacity by 2030.

Beyond building brand-new sites, a slice of the loan will bankroll “repowering” initiatives—swapping aging turbines for taller, more efficient models and upgrading early-generation solar arrays. Extending the life and output of existing assets can add megawatts at a fraction of the cost and land-use footprint of greenfield developments, while keeping local ownership structures intact.

Thrive’s current operational portfolio of 24 wind, solar, hydro, storage, tidal and geothermal projects generated more than 132 GWh of renewable electricity in 2024, avoiding about 61,800 tonnes of CO₂. Notable examples include England’s tallest and entirely community-owned onshore turbine at Lawrence Weston, Bristol, and the United Downs deep-geothermal pilot in Cornwall.

Triodos Bank UK—also a certified B Corporation—brings three decades of sector experience and a mandate to finance ventures with clear social and environmental purpose. Its senior relationship manager Norrie Cruickshank praised Thrive for “letting everyday investors play a part in the systemic shift” to low-carbon energy.

Matthew Clayton, Thrive’s managing director, called the partnership “a catalyst to put steel in the ground straight away,” stressing that every watt added helps shield consumers from volatile fossil-fuel prices while delivering local economic benefits. With permitting reforms back on the political agenda and community appetite for ownership rising, the duo’s collaboration signals that mission-driven banking can still move the dial on Britain’s climate goals—one turbine, panel and citizen investor at a time.