Eden Sustainable secures £75m to accelerate solar rollout

Coleshill-based Eden Sustainable has secured up to £75 million in funding from Bristol's Thrive Renewables.

The partnership will accelerate the rollout of private wire solar power purchase agreement (PPA) projects for schools, businesses and organisations across the UK.

Scott Burrows, director and co-founder, said: “Steve Baker, the philanthropist and entrepreneur, and I founded Eden 10 years ago to decarbonise our building stock by providing solutions which worked for both power users and investors. It is fantastically exciting to supercharge this provision by working with Thrive, a brilliant and aligned company, to create real scale, and real impact. 

“Thrive and Eden’s combined experience and ambition will help accelerate the deployment of commercial and industrial solar in support of the UK’s net zero commitments, while the deal has also help​​ed​​​ ​​​turn​​​ ​us into a niche ​​​independent power producer, which is a natural evolution of Eden’s growth strategy.”​​

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.

Richard 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.”

Based throughout the UK but with strong presence in Exeter and London, Eden Sustainable is a specialist in commercial solar PV, working across sectors including commercial, industrial, logistics, healthcare and education.

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

Matthew Clayton, managing director, said: “We believe that funding partnerships ​like this ​can help catalyse the industry, accelerating the delivery of vital new renewable energy capacity at the pace and scale needed for net zero. 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.

“This also supports our own ambitious growth goals, with the aim to double Thrive’s generation capacity within the next five years. 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.”​​

Wollens Solicitors advised Eden Sustainable. TLT provided legal advice to Thrive Renewables.