Octopus Energy supercharges US solar power from the Lone Star to the Big Apple

• Next set of investments after only entering the US renewables market this year
• Backs developers Circal and Zestec creating new solar projects
• Next move in its $2bn plan to power up America’s green energy revolution

London, 27 September 2024 – Octopus Energy’s generation arm makes its latest move into US renewables, with two investments to ramp up new solar power development in North America’s booming green energy market.

It marks the next move in Octopus’ $2bn plan to power up America’s green energy revolution and comes just three months after it made its first ever renewables investments stateside with the acquisition of solar farms in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The new deal sees Octopus invest in solar farm developer Circal to rapidly scale their expansion. Circal, which is developing solar farms in the US and Ireland, has multiple Gigawatts of projects in its pipeline.

It is targeting the creation of 600 Megawatts of new solar farms in the US in the next five years, with a focus on Texas. This would be enough green power for 40,000 Texan homes.

UK-based Octopus-backed solar developer Zestec is now also setting up shop in the USA to build solar panels on commercial and industrial businesses’ rooftops and land.

Businesses like warehouses and logistics centres will be able to get solar panels installed by Zestec at no cost, allowing them to benefit from fixed prices and savings from harnessing the power of the sun.

Zestec is targeting sun-drenched Texas as well as the East Coast including Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey to build new solar across hundreds of projects in the next five years.

These latest deals were made on behalf of the Octopus Energy Development Partnership (OEDP) and Sky (ORI SCsp) funds it manages.

These also build on Octopus’ work worldwide to turbocharge commercial rooftop solar and utility-scale opportunities.

It comes as the USA is speeding up the rollout of solar energy, installing a record 40 GW of solar in 2023*.

Zoisa North-Bond, CEO of Octopus Energy Generation, said: “The US continues to break its records with the amount of clean, cheap, solar power it is building. We entered America’s renewables market just three months ago and have big ambitions to build even more green power. With these deals we’re helping power up the green energy revolution across the USA to create a cheaper, greener future.”

This is the latest in a string of deals Octopus Energy’s generation arm has made to accelerate the green energy transition in the US, including investments in Ocergy, floating offshore wind tech company in California, and nature projects startup Cultivo.

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

Sources:

*Reuters, June 2024

Press Contacts

Octopus Energy Group

Amy Boekstein

Senior PR Manager

press@octoenergy.com

+44 (0)20 4530 8369

About Octopus Energy Generation

Octopus Energy Generation is driving the renewable energy agenda and building green power for the future. It is reshaping the market by leading the transition to a cleaner, greener future through renewable projects connected more deeply to customers and businesses. As one of Europe’s largest specialist renewables investors, it manages 3.8 GW of green energy projects like wind and solar farms in over 15 countries, worth £7bn ($9bn). These generate enough green power for 2.3 million homes every year - the equivalent of taking over 1 million petrol cars off the road.

Octopus comes up with innovative tech-enabled products to change ingrained thinking about energy, positively influence the net zero economy and deliver cheaper energy for customers. This includes the ‘Fan Club’, a world-first tariff providing discounted energy to people living near wind turbines when it's windy, which has seen 35,000+ requests for local wind turbines, and Winder (Tinder for Wind), Octopus’ tech platform to speed up new turbines development driven by community demand. For more information, check out our website.

About Octopus Energy Group

Octopus Energy is a global clean energy tech business, driving the affordable, green energy system of the future. Under its own retail brand, Octopus delivers world-class customer service and cutting edge energy products to 8 million households globally. Its operations span 18 countries and the entire energy value chain. The group invests in, builds and flexibly manages renewable energy, operating a £7 billion portfolio of projects.

Octopus has licensed its advanced data and machine learning platform, Kraken, to support over 54 million customer accounts worldwide through licensing deals with companies such as EDF, E.ON and Origin Energy. Kraken enables Octopus to drive the electrification of heat and transport through smart tariffs and innovative cleantech. Backed by pension funds, investors and energy giants, Octopus Energy Group businesses deliver cheaper, greener energy and cutting-edge tech to countries and customers worldwide.

For more information, check out our website