‘Plots for Kilowatts’: Octopus Energy invites landowners to host wind turbines to lower local energy bills

• Octopus Energy launches ‘Plots for Kilowatts’ campaign to accelerate cheap, green energy
• Over 5,000 communities registered interest in having a local wind turbine via Octopus’ Fan Club
• Octopus to use data driven approach to match-make willing landowners with enthusiastic communities who want to host a turbine
• Company will identify at least 10 viable onshore sites by the end of summer
• Landowners can register interest in having a wind turbine on their land here

London, Thursday 21st April 2022 - Octopus Energy Generation today launches ‘Plots for Kilowatts’ as it calls on landowners to register interest in hosting an onshore wind turbine, with Octopus matching this up with community demand.

The campaign is the next step in Octopus’ mission to lower energy bills for local communities by building more onshore wind projects. It follows the company’s recent research into attitudes towards onshore wind turbines which found that 9 out of 10 people (87%) would support a turbine in their community if it meant discounted energy rates*.

Octopus launched its innovative local wind tariff - the Fan Club - in January 2021, offering communities living close to its wind turbines up to 50% discount on their energy rates. Since launching, over 5,000 communities have got in touch asking for their own ‘Fan’.

The company is creating a ‘dating agency’-type platform, marrying up where communities have registered their interest with where landowners can provide land for local wind turbines, and overlaying this with data on grid availability, wind speeds and environmental impact. This will help identify at least 10 viable sites by the end of summer. These potential locations will be put forward to the Government to consider as part of its recently announced development plans for onshore wind as outlined in its Energy Security Strategy.

The UK’s top 30 landowners own over 1,500,000 acres of land and if just 1% of this land was rented for wind turbines, over 1,500 wind turbines could be built**. By being part of this, landowners have the opportunity to secure additional revenue streams through rent or a share of the project’s income, whilst giving back to their local community through discounted bills.

This comes as onshore wind energy costs have more than halved over the last decade***. Onshore wind energy is now the fastest and cheapest way to wean the UK off gas and increase the country’s energy independence.

Greg Hands Minister for Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change said:

“Now more than ever we need bold plans to scale up and accelerate clean and secure energy, as set out in the Government’s British Energy Security Strategy earlier this month.

“Octopus Energy’s new 'Plots for Kilowatts' campaign is an exceptional example of just this. This cooperation between industry and local communities is an important development and could help drive forward new onshore wind projects in local communities that want them, across the country.”

Zoisa North-Bond, CEO of Octopus Energy Generation, comments: “It’s crystal clear we need more renewables, with wind playing a significant role. Launching ‘Plots for Kilowatts’ will accelerate this so we can build more onshore wind quickly and at scale. Our aim is to create a ‘dating agency’, using a new data-driven approach to match-make willing landowners who have land to develop with communities that want onshore wind.

“We’ve been blown away by the demand we’ve seen for local green energy with cheaper energy rates. We’re now asking UK landowners to join us on our mission to dramatically accelerate people-led green energy. This will help unlock the UK’s significant renewable potential and speed up the transition to net zero and energy independence.”

Octopus Energy Generation launched the Fan Club with two turbines in Caerphilly, Wales and Market Weighton, Yorkshire. 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.

Landowners can register interest in Plots for Kilowatts here.

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

For landowners considering registering, please keep in mind that there may be a minimum amount of land needed for the development of a turbine (typically approximately 10 acres), no restrictions can be in place preventing the land’s use for electricity generation and the land must be at least 500m away from the nearest residential area. Find out more and register interest in Plots for Kilowatts here.

Sources:

*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.

** Please note this is an estimate based on Octopus’ analysis of public data of the top 33 Utility and Private individuals landowners in the UK’s.

*** Data from BEIS showing that onshore wind energy costs have more than halved from £95/MWh in 2013 down to £46/MWh in 2020

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, 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.

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 3.1 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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