by Green Finance Institute | September 22, 2026

• GFI Transition Finance Lab, which is delivered in partnership with DESNZ will bring project sponsors, government, public finance institutions, regulators and private investors together around real transactions
• The GFI Lab will work across the UK, including Scotland where a wealth of transition opportunities exist – in partnership with GBE in Aberdeen and the Scottish National Investment Bank
• Initial focus will include local and community energy, heat networks, ports and offshore wind infrastructure, and battery and hydrogen supply chains
• Action-focused model will support projects in becoming investment-ready and help develop financing structures that can be replicated at scale
• New public-private initiative will tackle persistent barriers preventing capital from reaching first-of-a-kind transition projects

London, UK, 22 September 2026: The Green Finance Institute (GFI) today announces the launch of the GFI Transition Finance Lab, a new initiative established to accelerate investment into first-of-a-kind (FOAK) transactions for companies and projects critical to the UK’s clean energy and industrial resilience.

Delivered in partnership with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and external partners, the GFI Transition Finance Lab, or ‘GFI Lab’, will bring together project sponsors, government, public finance institutions, regulators and private capital to address the specific barriers preventing transition-critical projects from securing investment and helping turn policy ambition into investable projects.

Michael Shanks MP, Minister for Energy, said:  in support of the Transition Finance Lab:

“Delivering clean power and economic growth will require the public and private sector working together to unlock investment in new technologies and infrastructure. The Transition Finance Lab is a welcome initiative that brings together the expertise needed to tackle real-world financing challenges and help promising businesses to secure the capital they need to grow and the public to have a share in their success.”

 Stephen Flynn MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Tourism and Transport, said: “It’s positive to see the launch of the Green Finance Institute’s new Transition Finance Lab, designed to bring together expertise from across the public and private sectors and help address barriers to investment in projects that are critical to our economic and energy future. The Lab will work on projects in Scotland, helping to unlock investment, support innovation and create new economic opportunities that reinforce our position as a leader in renewable technologies. I look forward to engaging with the newly appointed Vice-Chair Michael Watson in his dedicated role ensuring alignment between the GFI Lab and Scottish opportunities.” 

Advisory board with decades of experience

The GFI Lab is supported by an Advisory Board bringing together senior leaders who collectively bring decades of experience structuring and financing complex energy and infrastructure projects, shaping UK transition finance policy and helping first-of-a-kind technologies move towards commercial scale.

The GFI Lab is chaired by Ingrid Holmes (Deputy CEO, GFI). The Advisory Board’s Vice Chairs include; Sean Hanafin, Vanessa Havard-Williams OBE, Jonathan Pollock, Jon Williams, Alex Chavarot. Michael Watson will have a dedicated role ensuring the GFI Lab’s alignment with Scottish opportunities. The Advisory Board also has senior observers from DESNZ and the FCA.

The GFI Lab brings together project sponsors and private capital, alongside policymakers, public finance institution and regulators to support the development of real-world project transactions. The focus is on execution: helping first-of-a-kind projects secure finance, proving what works, and creating models that can be replicated across sectors at the pace and scale required for the transition. By bringing together expertise, market insight and decisionmakers around shared priorities, the GFI Lab helps align public and private actors behind a pipeline of opportunities, enabling faster execution, stronger collaboration and a more joined-up approach to delivering, in the first instance, the UK’s clean energy and industrial ambitions.

Ingrid Holmes, Deputy CEO of the Green Finance Institute and Chair of the GFI Transition Finance Lab, said:

“While significant capital is notionally available to support the UK’s transition, it is not flowing into many of the projects needed at the pace or scale required. New and complex projects can struggle to attract finance because of technology and business-model risks, uncertain demand and offtake, and a lack of clarity over how risk should be shared between the public and private sectors.

“The prize is not simply getting individual transactions over the line. It is using those pathfinder transactions to show how capital can be subsequently deployed into the technologies and infrastructure the UK needs for a clean, resilient and competitive economy.”

Focusing on practical delivery

Unlike conventional initiatives centred on research and recommendations, the GFI Lab is built around practical delivery. It will operate as a collaborative public-private transaction sandbox, convening the organisations needed to tackle the financing barriers facing real projects. Working upstream of investment decisions, the Lab will help project sponsors identify and address gaps in project readiness, risk allocation and financial structuring, supporting first-of-a-kind opportunities towards financial investment decision and, where appropriate, becoming “term sheet ready.”

The GFI Lab will:

• Bring the market together around real pathfinder projects, connecting project sponsors with public finance institutions, DESNZ, wider government, regulators, catapults and private-sector expertise;
• Design, test and refine potential investment solutions, including new financial structures, risk-sharing models and market mechanisms;
• Support project sponsors and companies seeking equity, debt or concessional capital to develop first-of-a-kind infrastructure;
• Identify wider market and policy barriers revealed by individual projects and feed practical recommendations back to government; and
• Turn individual transactions into scalable models, demonstrating what works and helping similar projects attract investment.

The GFI Lab will not allocate capital, arrange transactions or make investment recommendations or funding decisions. Its role is to help create the conditions in which public and private investors can assess stronger, better-structured and more investment-ready opportunities.

Sectors of strategic importance

The GFI Lab will initially focus on sectors of strategic importance to the UK’s energy and industrial transition which continue to face persistent financing barriers. Initial areas of focus include, local and community energy, heat networks, ports and offshore wind infrastructure, and battery and hydrogen supply chains.

Applications are now open for project support

The GFI Lab will support project sponsors and companies seeking access to equity, debt or concessional capital to develop first-of-a-kind infrastructure, including pilot plants and production facilities. Support may include clarifying gaps to be addressed before funding is secured, exploring blended-finance options, stress-testing potential structures with market experts and feeding relevant lessons back to policymakers.

The GFI Lab is actively inviting applications for projects. For a project to be considered there are two key requirements:

1. Sectors of strategic importance for the UK Government
2. Sectors currently struggling to attract investment at scale due to technology and business model risks

Applicants may submit an expression of interest to gfilab@gfi.green. Further details of how to apply can be found here https://www.greenfinanceinstitute.com/lab/

Vanessa Harvard-Williams, Vice Chair, Communications: “The GFI’s Transition Finance Lab is a key part of the UK’s transition finance capability. By demonstrating how low carbon and efficiency technologies can be financed efficiently with public: private collaboration, it addresses the challenge of how to scale viable solutions.”

Sean Hanafin, Vice Chair, Market Engagement: “The combination of senior market talent and the GFI’s high-quality team gives me huge confidence that the Lab will add real, tangible value in enabling and accelerating the execution of FOAK transactions to scale and support the clean energy transition.  I am genuinely excited to support the team as a Vice-Chair.”

Alex Chavarot, Vice Chair, Banking and M&A: “I am delighted to be joining the GFI Transition Finance Lab advisory board at this critical time. The Lab plays a unique role in mobilising the relevant public and private sector stakeholders to develop first-of-a-kind transactions and mobilise finance for key areas of the energy transition. Capital is available at scale: what is required are bespoke risk allocations and capital structures that meet the requirements of investors and lenders.”

Michael Watson, Vice Chair focusing on Scotland: “The GFI Lab is a great innovation to deliver practical and impactful solutions to accelerate the funding and financing models for the transition.  I am excited to be able to contribute as a vice chair in something I am passionate about and to help lead the engagement in the Scottish market.”

Jon Williams, Public Finance Institution alignment: “It is a real privilege to have been appointed as a Vice Chair of the GFI Transition Finance Lab. It brings together ambition and practicality to drive forward the UK’s transition to a low carbon economy, supporting companies and technologies that will be crucial to tacking climate change and creating green jobs and economic growth.”

Jonathan Pollock, Vice Chair, Origination: “First-of-a-kind projects rarely stall because the technology does not work. They stall because the financing structure has not yet been built — and until they reach scale, the climate benefit remains largely theoretical. That is why the origination role matters to me. Every pathfinder transaction we help get away does two things at once: it unlocks the emissions impact, and it converts the UK’s leadership in these sectors into real-economy businesses generating growth, jobs and tax receipts here. That dual return is, to my mind, the greatest growth opportunity open to the UK, and the Lab is built to unlock these benefits.”