Octopus Energy makes first green waves in UK offshore wind power

• Octopus boosts offshore wind portfolio with multi-million pound investment in Lincs wind farm in UK 
• Comes as the Government identifies offshore wind as pillar of UK’s Energy Security Strategy 
• Builds on Octopus’s investment last year into fast-growth floating offshore wind developer Simply Blue

London, Thursday 28th April 2022 - Octopus Energy Generation has made its first investment in a large UK offshore wind farm - helping to accelerate the UK’s journey to energy independence. 

First offshore wind farm investment 

Octopus Energy Generation’s fund management team has bought a c.8% stake in the 270 MW Lincs offshore wind farm off the coast of Skegness in the East of England. The wind farm, which has been operational since 2013, is made up of 75 wind turbines across 35 square kilometres, and is operated by global renewable energy developer Ørsted. It generates enough energy to power 240,000 UK homes a year. This equates to taking nearly 200,000 petrol cars off the road and avoiding over 350,000 tonnes of carbon emissions every year. 

Offshore wind is one of the pillars of the UK Government’s plans to boost Britain’s energy security. The UK already has 11 GW of offshore wind and in its recent Energy Security Strategy, the Government raised the target for offshore wind to 50 GW by 2030 and announced reforms to streamline the process for planning and connecting offshore wind farms to the grid. This comes as costs for offshore wind in the UK have fallen by around two thirds over the last eight years*. 

Momentum with floating offshore wind farm developer  

This builds on the fund management team’s deep expertise in offshore wind. Octopus has also been ramping up its activity in new innovative technologies like floating offshore wind turbines. Octopus invested in floating offshore wind developer Simply Blue Group in 2021, taking a 24% stake to speed up the company’s expansion in the UK and abroad.

Simply Blue has grown five-fold over the last 18 months and has scaled its global pipeline of floating offshore wind projects to 9 GW, with 3 GW in the UK and Ireland. In recent projects, Ørsted joined the Simply Blue Group and Subsea 7 joint venture for the Salamander floating offshore wind development off the Scottish Coast.

Zoisa North-Bond, CEO of Octopus Energy Generation, comments: “We’re extremely excited to make our first green waves in offshore wind energy – a key pillar of the UK’s renewable energy mix. The UK has tremendous offshore wind resources. By backing a large offshore wind farm as well as developing floating offshore wind power, we’re tapping into this vital technology to accelerate our journey to energy independence.”

“We’re dipping our toe in the water with this investment – but this is only the beginning. We’ve got big ambitions and innovative ideas for offshore wind and are going to massively ramp up our activities in this area over the coming 12 months.”

Octopus Energy Generation is already one of the largest investors in renewable energy in Europe. More broadly, Octopus Energy Group has been stepping up its generation capabilities, with plans to create 18 gigawatts of clean energy generation projects by 2027. 

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

Sources:

*Bloomberg New Energy Finance offshore wind LCOE H2 2021 update. 

Disclaimer:

Please note: The acquisition of this stake in the Lincs offshore wind farm has been agreed and is expected to complete in Q2 2022. This deal was led by Partha Vasudev, Head of Offshore Wind in Octopus Energy Generation’s fund management team. 

Press Contacts

Octopus Energy Group

Amy Boekstein

PR Manager 

+44 7806603376

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 GW of renewable energy assets like wind and solar farms across 7 countries, worth over £4bn. These renewable projects generate enough green energy to power 2 million homes every year, the equivalent of taking over 800,000 petrol cars off the road. Octopus 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. 

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 13 countries, Octopus Energy Group's mission is going global.

Octopus’s domestic energy arm already serves 3.2 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. 

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