At the recent Association of British Insurers (ABI) conference, it was fascinating to hear Greg Jackson CBE, CEO Octopus Energy and Chira Barua, CEO Scottish Widows and CEO - Insurance, Pensions & Investments, Lloyd’s Banking Group expressing interest around capital investment options in UK renewables’ projects for UK insurers. With the promise of stable returns and a role in the net-zero transition, renewables clearly have much to offer – and here at Idox Geospatial, we’re enthused by being so-well placed to help insurers overcome the challenges.  

Green Futures

UK insurers – managing somewhere around £2 trillion in assets – are, not surprisingly, exploring the renewables market as an opportunity to align immediate liabilities with strong, long-term cash flows. Supported by subsidies or power purchase agreements, renewables offer predictable revenue, while also meeting escalating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) demands as fossil fuels fade. However, it’s not all plain sailing.  

The Solvency II framework restricts investment in less liquid assets like renewables infrastructure, and progress on reforms, such as the Matching Adjustment, remains slow. More critically, identifying viable projects is a struggle – there’s no centralized database of these projects, which will inevitably mean siloed teams, scouring fragmented sources like local plans and developer pitches.  

This opaque process risks missed opportunities or flawed investments, intensified by competition from other investors driving up costs. High upfront capital, complex financing, policy shifts, and supply chain issues further complicate matters – which is where geospatial expertise comes in. 

By leveraging location data, mapping, and geospatial insights, we can offer comprehensive, dynamic insights to help insurers pinpoint and evaluate renewables projects of all types and sizes, UK-wide.

Layering in real-time data on land ownership, environmental constraints, and infrastructure proximity, this replaces piecemeal research with a unified view, enabling those insurers to quickly identify high-potential projects tailored to their risk-return profiles. But this kind of analysis goes far beyond discovery; our expertise can also enhance due diligence.