Armstrong Asset Management: Inspiration

Armstrong Asset Management is an independent clean energy asset manager, committed to investing into clean energy infrastructure assets that leave a long term positive impact on society and the natural environment.

Lord Armstrong, born in England in 1810, was a pioneer of the industrial revolution, inventor of hydraulic systems that enabled heavy lifting in the manufacture of ships, bridges and railways.

At a time when the world’s leading economies had their success built on the access to coal, he foresaw that due to a finite resource availability, a transition would be required towards renewable forms of energy within two centuries.  In a speech he made in 1863 as the President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, he began advocating the use of hydroelectricity, and also supported solar power, stating that the solar energy received by 1-acre (4,000 m2) in tropical areas would "exert the amazing power of 4000 horses acting for nearly nine hours every day.”

150 years later we believe that his vision is being delivered. We see that clean energy technologies have matured to a point where they are cost competitive with fossil fuels in many markets. This is the trigger point for the widespread deployment of clean energy infrastructure, which will begin in markets where issues of energy security and reliability are uppermost and where the demand for power is growing.

Not only was Armstrong a visionary, but he was an engineer who delivered practical solutions. His country home at Cragside (Northumberland, UK) was the first house in the world to be powered by hydroelectric power. Today, Armstrong Asset Management is investing globally in infrastructure assets that deliver clean power to local communities and businesses, in line with a vision outlined 150 years ago by Lord Armstrong.