The growing portfolio of onshore wind farms owned and operated by Sunderland-headquartered renewable energy firm OnPath Energy generated enough electricity last year to meet the average annual electricity needs of more than 192,000 homes – or a city almost twice the size of Newcastle.
The 12 OnPath wind farms located across Scotland and England generated over 660,000 MWh of electricity between them during the 12 months to the end of 2024 – and by doing so, they displaced the equivalent annual carbon dioxide emissions from the electricity supply network of over 91,680 petrol cars.
The company’s two onshore wind farms in its native North East – the Moor House Wind Farm near Darlington and the Lambs Hill Wind Farm to the north west of Stockton – generated over 56,000 MWh of electricity between them during 2024.
The six-turbine Moor House Wind Farm led the way by generating more than 33,000 MWh, with the four-turbine Lambs Hill site producing just under 23,000 MWh.
As part of the company’s OnPath Together development approach, the two wind farms also delivered combined revenues of more than £51,000 during 2024 to their respective community benefits funds, which provide financial support for projects being undertaken by groups and good causes in their surrounding communities.
The Moor House and Lambs Hill community benefits funds have received more than £364,000 in total during the wind farms’ operational lifetime, while the company’s portfolio of onshore wind farms generated over £760,000 in total for their community benefits funds in 2024 alone.
Owned by Brookfield Asset Management, which manages the world’s largest fund series dedicated to accelerating the transition to net zero, OnPath Energy is already one of the UK onshore renewable energy sector’s leading owner/operators and is aiming to invest around one billion pounds in clean energy projects across the UK over the next five years.
Work has recently started on the new Mill Rig Wind Farm in South Lanarkshire, with construction set to begin on the company’s first solar projects – the Barnsdale Solar Energy Park near Leeds and the co-located Common Farm Solar Energy Park, a solar and battery energy storage project in South Yorkshire.
OnPath also acquired the Milton Keynes Wind Farm in Buckinghamshire and the Pates Hill Wind Farm in West Lothian in January this year, while it currently has more than 3GW of renewable energy generation and electricity storage capacity in its development pipeline.
The company’s 2024 energy generation figures include the 101,800 MWh produced by the Kype Muir Wind Farm Extension in South Lanarkshire before the sale of its shares in the project to funds managed by Schroders Greencoat LLP last October.
Richard Dunkley, CEO at OnPath Energy, says: “The business has made huge progress over the last year while continuing to generate considerable amounts of renewable electricity, and we are now working towards increasing the contribution that we can make towards the UK achieving its clean power and Net Zero ambitions.
“Our commitment to delivering substantial amounts of funding for community improvement projects remains as strong as ever, with the dedication and creativity of the dozens of groups we support every year always being hugely impressive.
“OnPath has ambitious plans to make further capital investment in high-quality renewable energy infrastructure, and is continuing to grow in terms of our diversity of projects and technologies, as well as geographically.
“This approach will amplify the part we play in a net zero future for the UK and will help to lower consumer bills in the long term, improve the UK’s energy security and deliver a just transition that is fair and inclusive for everyone.”
Brookfield Asset Management is one of the world’s largest publicly traded platforms for renewable power and sustainable solutions, with over 35,000 megawatts of installed renewable energy capacity worldwide, equivalent to the UK’s onshore wind, offshore wind and hydroelectricity capacity.