Octopus Energy’s Winder platform identifies 2.3GW British onshore wind potential with local community support

• Winder, Octopus Energy’s ‘Tinder for Wind’, discovers potential to unleash new homegrown cheap power for 1.85m homes
• Could unlock investments of £3.4bn, creating a wave of growth and green jobs
• Builds on 15,000+ community requests for local Octopus ‘Fan Club’ turbines
• YouGov survey shows 9 in 10 support onshore wind if it means lower bills

London, Monday 28th November 2022 - Octopus Energy Generation’s match-making platform for wind energy identifies 2.3 GW of potential new British onshore wind energy that could be unleashed where people want it.

Developing all this new onshore wind energy would be the equivalent of building a large nuclear power station. It would provide enough home-grown, cheap, green energy for 1.85 million homes - or the combined population size of Birmingham and Manchester.

Winder* is Octopus’ answer to the slow development of onshore wind energy in the UK in recent years. Built to accelerate the process of building new wind turbines, the tech platform matches available land with community support, grid capacity and wind data.

It is the latest initiative in Octopus’ plans to expand cheap wind energy, helping accelerate the UK’s shift to a green economy and drive down energy bills.

Winder builds on Octopus’ world-first ‘Fan Club’ tariff which provides cheaper power to communities close to its wind turbines when the wind is blowing. Since launching it in 2021, over 15,000 people across the country have got in touch with Octopus asking for a turbine in their community.

Onshore wind is one of the cheapest and quickest forms of energy to build** - and consistently polls positively with the British public. A recent YouGov survey found 9 in 10 (87%) people would support a wind turbine in their community if it meant cheaper energy***. Recent data also shows the UK has 37 GW of total onshore wind projects in the pipeline****.

Building turbines on all of the identified locations would unlock investments of over £3.4bn, leading to a renewables-powered wave of growth and creating more high-quality green jobs across the UK.

Zoisa North-Bond, CEO of Octopus Energy Generation commented: “This energy crisis is caused by our dependence on gas. To end it and make sure we never find ourselves in the same position again, we need to build more cheap, green energy - and quickly.

“The current system means it takes seven years on average to build and connect a new onshore wind turbine - but it’s possible to build it in a year. Winder shows we can massively speed up this process and make a difference by next winter. It’s possible to build more wind turbines where people want them, helping to end our fossil fuel reliance, lower energy bills and unleash economic growth.”

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

*Winder analyses Fan Club requests from communities, landowners registered via Plots for Kilowatts, suitable wind speeds, grid capacity to connect new renewable projects, and environmental factors e.g. to ensure the land is not in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, etc.

** According to the latest research by BloombergNEF, onshore wind has halved in costs from $93/MWh in 2009 to $46/MWh in 2022

**Independent research carried out by YouGov commissioned by Octopus Energy Generation, of a nationally representative sample of 3,498 UK adults about their attitudes to onshore wind turbines. Research carried out between 7th September and 9th September 2022. People were asked to what extent they would support or oppose the installation of a single wind turbine within ten miles of where they lived if it meant cheaper energy bills.

***RenewableUK, September 2022

Imagery

Imagery of Octopus Energy’s Fan Club turbines can be found at this link.

Press Contacts

Octopus Energy Group

Amy Boekstein

PR Manager

amy.boekstein@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. 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 over 3 GW of renewable energy assets like wind and solar farms across 11 countries, worth £5bn. 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. It is part of Octopus Group, which is a certified BCorp. With operations in 14 countries, Octopus Energy Group's mission is going global.

Octopus’s domestic energy arm already serves 3.4 million customers with cheaper greener power, through Octopus Energy, M&S Energy, 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 £4 billion portfolio of renewable energy assets throughout the continent.

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 over 20 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. It was the company’s third major investment round since launching to the market.

For more information, check out our website.