Flying high: Octopus Energy and RES to build new German wind farm on disused US air station

• Marks Octopus’ 4th green deal in Germany since entering the market last year
• Octopus manages 100 MW wind farms in Germany, enough for 100k homes
• Several more deals are in the pipeline in Europe’s largest wind market

London/Munich, Monday 12th June 2023 - Octopus Energy’s generation arm - who manage £6bn worth of renewable assets and energy transition projects globally - makes its fourth wind farm investment in Germany in less than a year.

The new 11.4 MW wind farm is being built on a disused site of a former US air station near Prüm in west Germany, close to the Luxembourg and Belgium border.

It consists of two large Nordex turbines and will produce enough energy for 13,500 homes, the equivalent to planting 100,000 trees, or taking 110,000 petrol cars off the road. Construction has already started and it will become operational in 2024.

Octopus entered Germany’s renewable generation market last June. It now manages over 100 MW of onshore wind farm projects across the country, which will generate enough clean power for 100,000 homes.

The company already has several more deals in the pipeline to boost its generation footprint in Germany over the next few months.

Octopus acquired the wind farm from the project developer RES, the world's largest independent renewable energy company. This is the first deal for Octopus and RES in Germany, who already have a strong partnership in the UK.

RES is building the wind farm and will help manage operations under a 20-year contract, closely working with landowners, local communities and the municipality. The company has been active in the German renewables market for 10 years, developing, constructing and operating wind and solar projects to drive the energy transition, with a pipeline of over 1 GW of renewable energy projects.

As Europe’s biggest wind market, Germany built 2.4 GW new onshore wind last year - more than any other European country. Onshore wind makes up 17% of Germany’s electricity mix, with Government targets to rapidly ramp up capacity by 10 GW a year from 2025*.

Zoisa North-Bond, CEO of Octopus Energy Generation, said: “We’re hugely excited about Germany’s renewables market, and we’ve quickly gone from 0 to 4 wind projects in less than a year. We’re looking to rapidly turbocharge the German 'Energiewende' so those wanting to build more wind and solar in Germany should get in touch with us.”

Rachel Ruffle, RES EMEA CEO, commented: “Germany continues to lead the way onshore wind showing how a supportive policy direction and collaboration can positively shape the pace of deployment. Delivering more onshore wind will always be a win-win situation – greening our energy mix with cheaper generation and bringing inward economic investment to local areas.”

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

Please note: Octopus Energy Generation has acquired this wind farm on behalf of the Sky fund (ORI SCSp) it manages.

Sources:

• WindEurope 2022 statistics, 18 February 2023
• Clean Energy Wire, 13 February 2023
• WindEurope, 11 July 2022

Press Contacts

Octopus Energy Group

Amy Boekstein

PR Manager

+44 (0)20 4530 8369

amy.boekstein@octoenergy.com

RES

Rachel Anderson

RES Press Office

+44 7795 680 803

rachel.anderson@res-group.com

About Octopus Energy Generation

Octopus Energy Generation is driving the renewable energy agenda and building green power for the future. This means 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 investors in renewable energy, its fund management specialist team launched in 2010 with a mission to accelerate the transition to a future powered by renewable energy. This team manages 3.2 GW of renewable energy assets like wind and solar farms across 13 countries, worth £6bn. These renewable projects generate enough green energy to power 2 million homes every year, and is the equivalent of taking over 1 million petrol cars off the road. The business also launched the Fan Club in the UK 2021, the world's first local energy tariff that provides cheaper, greener energy to customers living near local wind turbines when the wind blows, with a discount of up to 50%. Thousands of people have got in touch asking for the Fan Club in their community. For more information, check out our website.

About Octopus Energy Group

Octopus Energy Group is a global energy tech pioneer, launched in 2016 to use technology to unlock a customer focused and affordable green energy revolution. With operations in 14 countries, Octopus Energy Group has a truly global reach.

Octopus’s domestic energy arm already serves 5.4 million customers globally with cheaper greener power, through Octopus Energy, Bulb, Affect Energy, Ebico, London Power and Co-op Energy. Octopus Electric Vehicles is helping make clean transport cheaper and easier, and Octopus Energy Services is bringing smart products to thousands of homes. Octopus Energy Generation is one of Europe’s largest investors in renewable energy, managing a nearly £6 billion portfolio of renewable energy assets across the globe.

All of these are made possible by Octopus’s tech arm, Kraken Technologies, which offers a proprietary, in-house platform based on advanced data and machine learning capabilities, Kraken automates much of the energy supply chain to allow outstanding service and efficiency as the world transitions to a decentralised, decarbonised energy system. This technology has been licensed to support 30 million customer accounts worldwide, through deals with EDF Energy, Good Energy, E.ON energy and Origin Energy.

In December 2021, Octopus Energy Group was valued at approximately $5 billion following investments from Generation Investment Management and Canada Pensions Plan Investments Board. Both investors back businesses that drive sustainability, promote green energy and tackle climate change. These were the company’s third and fourth major investments since launching to the market.

For more information, check out our website.

About RES

RES is the world’s largest independent renewable energy company active in onshore and offshore wind, solar, green hydrogen, energy storage and transmission and distribution. At the forefront of the industry for over 40 years, RES has delivered more than 23GW of renewable energy projects across the globe and supports an operational asset portfolio exceeding 12GW worldwide for a large client base. Understanding the unique needs of corporate clients, RES has secured over 1.5GW of corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs) enabling access to energy at the lowest cost. RES employs over 2,500 people and is active in 14 countries. For further information about RES, visit www.res-group.com