Renewable energy developer OnPath Energy has revealed its ambitions to invest around one billion pounds in clean energy projects across the UK over the next five years.
OnPath, which has its Scottish office in Hamilton, already owns and operates ten onshore wind farms across Scotland and northern England, including Kype Muir and Middle Muir in South Lanarkshire, and expects to progress the construction of several projects across the UK over the coming year.
Following its acquisition by Brookfield Asset Management in late 2023, OnPath Energy (formerly Banks Renewables) now has ambitions to build more onshore wind, solar and energy storage projects, with a significant proportion of the investment capital directed towards projects within Scotland.
In Scotland, OnPath Energy currently has 143MW of operational onshore wind projects in Scotland, with a further 200MW consented and another 260MW in planning.
There are a further 300MW of battery storage projects in planning and a pipeline of over 1GW of storage and generation projects in development north of the border.
More than 30 jobs have been created by OnPath over the last 12 months, with more set to follow in 2025 as the business works towards its objective of becoming the UK’s leading land-based renewable energy developer.
The investment plans were announced during the official opening of the company’s Sunderland headquarters, which was carried out by the UK government’s Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson MP.
Richard Dunkley, CEO at OnPath Energy, says: “The new UK government has been very firm in its commitment to accelerating the transition to net zero.
We will be contributing towards reaching this destination by aiming to invest around one billion pounds in building more of the renewables infrastructure the UK needs over the next five years, a plan which will in turn create and support hundreds of skilled, sustainable green jobs across the UK.”
He added: “Alongside this, we are working to bring communities with us on the energy transition by creating industry-leading commitments on community benefits and community shared ownership.
We will achieve this by developing people, giving them the skills required to underpin the sector’s future success, and by operating in genuine partnership with stakeholders and the communities in which we’re working, which we describe as the OnPath Together approach to development.”
Rt Hon Bridget Phillipson MP says: “Clean power will unlock billions of pounds in investment and reindustrialise Britain with thousands of skilled jobs across the country.
“Through our Plan for Change, the Labour government will build an energy system that can bring down bills for households and businesses for good.”
Richard Dunkley continues: “OnPath has ambitious plans to make further long-term capital investment in this high-quality renewable energy infrastructure, amplifying the difference we can make to a net zero future for the UK that will help to lower consumer bills, improve the UK’s energy security and deliver a just transition that is fair and inclusive for everyone.
We’re very grateful to the minister for taking the time to officially open our new headquarters and look forward to contributing to the UK and Scottish governments’ drives towards the successful attainment of their environmental, energy and skills development goals.”
Sebastian Perl, Senior Vice President at Brookfield said: “We were delighted to invest into OnPath Energy in 2023 and the outlook for onshore renewables in the UK has continued to improve since then. We will continue to support the company to invest in critical energy infrastructure as the UK aims to fully decarbonise its electricity grid”
