Leading renewables developer OnPath Energy is looking to expand its investment and operational presence across Great Britain after reporting a £69.4m operating profit in its latest annual accounts.
The Sunderland-headquartered firm recorded a turnover to £95.7m for the 15-month period to the end of 2024, compared to a turnover of £50.2m and operating profit of £20.8m during the 12 months to the end of September 2023.
The extended accounting period included the sale of OnPath’s shares in the Kype Muir Extension Wind Farm in South Lanarkshire to funds managed by Schroders Greencoat LLP, while it also awarded a total of more than £2.1m in grants from the community funds linked to each of its onshore wind farms, which provide financial support for projects being undertaken by groups and good causes in their surrounding communities
And with the Labour government’s removal of the effective ban on new onshore wind farms in England, the OnPath Energy team is now looking at a range of potential new developments across the country, alongside identifying further new project locations in Scotland and investigating opportunities in Wales for the first time.
At the start of 2025, OnPath signalled its ambition to invest around one billion pounds in clean energy projects across the UK over the next five years as part of its drive towards becoming the UK’s leading land-based renewable energy developer. More than 30 new jobs have been created by OnPath over the last 18 months, with more expected to follow through this year, including its first intake of graduate trainees.
Simon Fisher, chief financial officer at OnPath Energy, said: 'We have delivered a very encouraging set of results despite UK power prices being lower than the previous period and are well set to build on them in the coming years.'
'We are making significant investments in high-quality renewable energy infrastructure as we grow in terms of our diversity of projects and technologies, as well as geographically, and have a clear strategy in place for how we will achieve our growth ambitions.
'We are continuing to develop our portfolio of wind farm assets and other technologies, thereby create sustainable profits in future years, while also seeking value from the recycling of capital as market opportunities arise to optimise that portfolio.'
OnPath Energy currently has an overall generation capacity of 252MW, along with a further 550MW of consented wind, solar and battery storage projects and a 3GW overall development pipeline.
Its onshore wind farms generated enough green electricity during 2024 to meet the average annual electricity needs of more than 192,000 homes, or a city almost twice the size of Newcastle, and by doing so, they displaced the equivalent annual carbon dioxide emissions from the electricity supply network of over 91,680 petrol cars.
It acquired the Pates Hill Wind Farm in West Lothian and the Milton Keynes Wind Farm in Buckinghamshire at the start of this year to take its portfolio of operational onshore wind farms across England and Scotland up to 12.
The deal represented OnPath’s first acquisition since it was acquired by Brookfield Asset Management in December 2023, with its accounting period being extended this year to bring it into line with Brookfield’s.
Work has also commenced this year on the construction of the six-turbine Mill Rig Wind Farm in South Lanarkshire, as well as on the company’s first solar energy projects – the Barnsdale Solar Park to the east of Leeds and the Common Farm Solar Park near Sheffield.
Richard Dunkley, CEO at OnPath Energy, adds: 'Having the world’s largest dedicated transition investor as an owner presents a wide range of new opportunities around access to capital, global procurement relationships and PPA markets which will be central to our future development.
'The changing policy landscape in England and the government’s firm commitment to making Britain a clean energy superpower opens the way for us to contribute significantly to meeting its ambition of doubling onshore wind and tripling solar power by 2030.
'We welcome the Government’s recent announcement to reform the national electricity market rather than move to a zonal system, which is good news for British consumers and gives us the best chance of delivering Clean Power 2030 by supporting investment in low-cost renewable electricity.
'New onshore wind farms in England will help to create jobs, improve security of energy supply and help reduce consumer electricity bills, while they will also deliver significant, tangible benefits to the communities in which they’re based, as our existing onshore wind farms have been consistently doing for many years.'
Brookfield Asset Management is one of the world’s largest owners and operators of renewable power plants, with over 46,000 megawatts of operating capacity worldwide, equivalent to two thirds of the UK’s renewable energy capacity.
Source: OnPath Energy
