Solar panel firm secures £75m from Bristol's Thrive Renewables

A solar panel business has secured £75m in funding from Bristol-based energy firm Thrive Renewables.

Eden Sustainable, which operates around the UK including in Exeter and London, said the deal would accelerate the roll out of private wire solar power purchase agreement (PPA) projects for schools, businesses and organisations across the country.

Thrive Renewables has been building and operating renewable energy projects in the UK for nearly 30 years.

Matthew Clayton, managing director of Thrive, said funding partnerships like the one with Eden Sustainable could help "catalyse the industry". He also said the deal supported the company's own growth plans as it aims to double generation capacity in the next five years.

"We’re excited to be partnering with Eden, a business that closely aligns with our ethos and values, helping fund its expansion plans that could see up to 75MW of new rooftop solar installed," he said. "The clean energy system of the future will need to rely on a number of technologies working together, with private wire projects enabling more renewables to be deployed at a time when access to the grid is at a real bottleneck.”

Scott Burrows, who co-founded Eden Sustainable 10 years ago with Steve Baker, said the combined experience of the two firms would help accelerate the deployment of commercial and industrial solar in support of the UK’s net zero commitments.

"It is fantastically exciting to supercharge this provision by working with Thrive, a brilliant and aligned company, to create real scale, and real impact," he said.

PKF Francis Clark acted as lead advisors to Eden Sustainable on the transaction, including helping to develop a financial model, producing an information memorandum for potential funders, negotiating offers and managing the process through to completion. PKF Francis Clark’s team included Richard Harris, Victoria Smith and George Harold.

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Mr Harris, corporate finance director at PKF Francis Clark, said: “Raising funding on attractive terms in the current environment is challenging, but in Thrive Renewables we found a partner who recognised the potential of the opportunity with Eden and was therefore prepared to take a longer-term view. Thrive’s ethical alignment with Eden was also a significant factor in their decision to partner with one another following a competitive market process.”

Wollens Solicitors (Emma Reed and Dominic Hollingsworth) advised Eden Sustainable, while law firm TLT (Gary Roscoe, Kay Hobbs, Amy Stenner and Kevin Howard) provided legal advice to Thrive Renewables.