Octopus Energy extends ‘Fan Club’ tentacles into West Yorkshire

• Octopus Energy adds third wind turbine to its innovative ‘Fan Club’ tariff, providing more people with local, affordable energy
• Tariff available in HX2 postcode in Halifax, with up to £350 in annual savings
• In the last year, 10,000 people have requested a local wind turbine

London, Thursday 18th August 2022 - Octopus Energy Generation, one of Europe’s largest investors in renewable energy, is accelerating the rollout of its popular ‘Fan Club’ model by launching its third local wind tariff in Halifax, West Yorkshire.

The latest addition to the ‘Fan Club’ is bigger than its predecessors. The 2 MW wind turbine built by Siemens is part of the Ovenden Moor Wind Farm and generates enough home-grown green energy to power 2,000 homes for one year (5 times more than the company’s first two ‘Fans’).

Octopus Energy’s ‘Fan Club’ is a unique tariff providing cheaper energy when the wind blows, with a discount of up to 50% off the unit rate. It can save customers up to £350 on their annual energy bill. Customers who want to plan energy-intensive tasks according to times when their local power is cheaper, can use the company’s ‘Fan Club’ dashboard*, which provides information such as local wind speeds.

Since launching the ‘Fan Club’ in January 2021, 10,000 people got in touch with Octopus asking for a wind turbine near their home. Recent research by Opinion Matters shows 9 in 10 people support a wind turbine in their community if it meant cheaper energy**.

This is the latest step in Octopus’ roll-out of local renewable energy. It comes shortly after its announcement of its new partnership with wind turbine manufacturer EWT to repower hundreds of existing older onshore wind turbines in the UK. In the future there’s also potential to bring the repowered wind turbines onto a Fan Club-style model.

Octopus manages 3.2 GW of renewable energy assets across Europe. The company is stepping up its generation capabilities with plans to have at least 1,000 wind turbines on its ‘Fan Club’ in the UK by the end of the decade.

Zoisa North-Bond, CEO of Octopus Energy Generation, comments: “We’ve been blown away by the volume of requests and positive sentiment towards our Fan Club, which offers people 100% local green energy at discounted rates.

“Welcoming customers onto our Number 3 Fan in Halifax means more people can benefit from cheap, green energy when it’s abundant locally. This is especially important as people are facing much higher energy bills this winter.

“But we are not going to stop here – we are working round the clock to add many more wind turbines to our Fan Club model, putting money back into people’s pockets whilst driving renewables at scale.”

The new ‘Fan Club’ tariff will be available to people living in the HX2 postcode area in Halifax and it’s possible to sign up here from today.

People outside of Halifax who are interested in a Fan Club in their community, can register interest here.

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

*Customers can access the Fan Club Dashboard platform at this link.

**Independent research carried out by Opinion Matters commissioned by Octopus Energy Generation of a nationally representative sample of 2,000 UK based energy bills payers. Research carried out between 17 March 2022 and 23 March 2022.

Imagery

Imagery of this latest wind turbine which is part of the Ovenden Moor wind farm can be found here.

Broader imagery of Octopus Energy’s Fan Club turbines can be found here.

Video

B-roll video clips of Octopus Energy's Fan Club can be found here.

Fan Club tariff in Halifax

• Available for HX2 postcodes
• 50% discount at wind speeds above 11 m/s

Wind turbine specifications

• The blades are 40m long
• The turbines tip height is 107m tall - taller than Big Ben in London
• Each turbine has a 2 MW power output - enough to power 2,000 homes per year
• The turbines operate in wind speeds between 3.5 m/s and 25 m/s

Press Contacts

Octopus Energy Group

Amy Boekstein

PR Manager

+44 (0)20 4530 8369

amy.boekstein@octoenergy.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 10 countries, worth £4.4bn. These renewable projects generate enough green energy to power 2 million homes every year, and is the equivalent of taking over 800,000 petrol cars off the road. The business also launched the Fan Club in 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 £4bn 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 a $600 million investment from Generation Investment Management and a $300 million investment from 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.