Renewable energy developer OnPath Energy has shared plans to invest £1 billion in clean energy projects in the UK over the next five years.
Formerly Banks Renewables, OnPath Energy said it intends to become the UK’s leading land-based renewable energy developer. It owns and operates ten onshore wind farms across Scotland and northern England and intends to build a portfolio including solar and energy storage projects, progressing the construction of some of those this year.
On 10 January, the firm’s new headquarters in Sunderland were opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by Bridget Phillipson MP, the member of parliament for Houghton and Sunderland South and secretary of state for education.
Richard Dunkley, CEO of OnPath Energy, said the firm will contribute towards net zero goals “by aiming to invest £1 billion in building more of the renewables infrastructure the UK needs over the next five years”.
He added that this will, in turn, create and support “hundreds” of green jobs across the UK. In the last year, OnPath claims to have created over 30 jobs.
“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.”
OnPath’s South Yorkshire solar and storage project has a £50,000 community benefit package, while its 200MW battery energy storage system (BESS) in Bathgate, Scotland, will see £1 million made available for community-led investment over the project’s lifetime.
OnPath recently sold its shares in the Kype Muir Wind Farm Extension, the first UK project to use turbines with a 200 metre tip height, to funds owned by Schroders Greencoat.
In 2023, OnPath was acquired by Canadian investment manager Brookfield Asset Management, in a deal worth around $1 billion (£820 million). Brookfield made its first foray into the UK rooftop solar sector in November 2024 with the £220 million acquisition of Atrato Onsite Energy’s commercial and residential rooftop solar portfolio.
Around the same time it also entered the offshore wind market, taking a 12.5% minority stake in four UK offshore wind farms belonging to Danish energy company and developer Ørsted.
In November 2023, UK utility Octopus Energy’s generation arm acquired a 12.5% stake in the Walney Extension offshore wind development, which has been operational since 2018. Brookfield has a 20% stake in the utility, taken on as part of its acquisition of Australian Origin Energy.