TLT advises Thrive on first commercial rooftop solar initiative

Thrive has joined forces with solar expert Olympus Power, developing a new financing framework which provides the funding for Olympus to install hundreds of commercial solar arrays. Olympus is looking to fund up to £75m of commercial solar installations to help businesses cut carbon emissions.

The TLT team was led by banking partner Gary Roscoe, with support from partner Kay Hobbs, partner and head of clean energy Maria Connolly, legal director Stuart Urquhart and associate Andrew Russell. The multi-disciplinary team advised Thrive on all contractual and funding aspects of the project.

Gary Roscoe, partner at TLT, says:

“We are seeing increasing interest from investors in smaller scale, localised energy generation, which will play a key part in reaching net zero. This is Thrive’s first solar roof initiative, building on its ‘direct wire’ approach where businesses benefit financially and environmentally from the electricity they generate on site.

“We are delighted to be able to support Thrive in another innovative partnership, which will hopefully accelerate other new developments and help businesses realise the potential for other behind-the-meter solutions.”

Matthew Clayton, managing director at Thrive Renewables, said:

“Thrive is very pleased to provide funding to enable businesses to reduce their energy costs and carbon footprint using onsite solar power.

“By installing solar PV off balance sheet and providing a long term zero carbon power supply contract, we can help businesses transition to cleaner operations and potentially take significant steps on their journey to net zero.

"We’re looking forward to working with Olympus on this project. Small-scale decentralised energy will help get more renewable capacity built in the UK and distribute the electricity generated locally, reducing losses. The funding framework we have developed is an efficient way of financing portfolios of projects. It can be adapted for other technologies and we would welcome the opportunity to do similar deals in the future.

“We were pleased to work with TLT again, and appreciate the breadth and depth of their experience and their understanding of our needs as a business – both what's needed today and to deliver our future plans.”

Simon Nicholls, Managing Director of Olympus Power, said:

“This is a great opportunity for businesses to get closer to net-zero emissions with a solar system paid for, installed and looked after by us. Commercial rooftop solar is a massively underserved part of the Net Zero trajectory and is a key part of creating a cleaner, less wasteful way of generating power. On-site, small-scale power is the future: we’ve already committed to over 100MW of projects and there are more to come.”