Why we're still growing globally in the face of UK energy turmoil

The current tough state of the UK energy market only crystallises how urgent the need for investment in renewable and smart technology is globally.

Reliance on fossil fuels, and a 100+ year old system, have left us in the state we’re in now, with increased global demand for gas driving up prices and passing high costs onto consumers in many places around the world.

Expansion into new territories is the only way we can change the energy system on the scale that is needed.

To take it back to our founding mission; we set out to create a fair and transparent energy system that puts the customer at its core. Unlike others in the industry, we do not believe in blaming customers for high carbon footprints when all they’re doing is using the only system that is available to them (everyone needs heating and transport to work). We firmly believe that system-wide change will come easier if we can first prove to people around the world that green energy is the simplest, cheapest choice. Through new investment and expansion we will be able to move on from the current fundamentally flawed system, built on finite resources, and create a cleaner, more versatile and more efficient system at a scale that will serve our customers better and significantly reduce our toll on the planet.

We can keep expanding to more places thanks to our fantastic investors, most recently former US Vice-President and climate champion Al Gore’s sustainable investment fund, Generation. Our Kraken technology platform, built from the ground up to support a 100% green, customer-centric energy system, is like nothing that’s existed in the market before. It’s now licensed to 25 million customers including Good Energy, E.ON and EDF in the UK, Tokyo Gas in Japan to support our joint venture Octopus Energy Japan, and Origin Energy in Australia.

But expanding into other countries does not mean we’re taking our eye off the UK. We’ve already begun to supercharge a comprehensive, whole-system approach to the decarbonisation of the UK through the likes of designing affordable heat pumps (and hiring 1,000 engineers per year to replace gas boilers), electric vehicles (we already power ⅓ of the UK charging points) and green hydrogen (investing £3bn as an alternative fuel source for heavy industry). We believe the UK has the potential to be the leader in this transition that others can emulate.

We are also freely contributing data, technology and expertise to give others in the industry unique insight into how we can accelerate a global transition to renewables - we’ve invested £5m in the Octopus backed independent Centre for Net Zero. OCNZ is building the world’s largest ‘living lab’ for energy research, using data-driven modelling and simulation to provide the critical insights that policy makers need to take bold climate action.

In our efforts to bring the green revolution, both 'local' and global, we're empowered by the support of our 3.1 million customers and the massive, overwhelming vote of confidence from Al Gore’s Generation and our other investment partners. It certainly feels like we’re on the cusp of momentous change, and we don’t have a second to waste.