With energy bills soaring and Western Europe forced into rethinking its reliance on Russian oil and gas, one UK energy business is stepping up its investment in wind power.
Octopus Renewables, a fund management specialist within the Octopus Energy Group, has signed four deals to ramp up wind power generation across Europe and to help deliver Net Zero.
It comes after Ofgem warned that average home energy bills will rise by £693 from April 1, after a spiralling wholesale prices led it to hike the energy price cap by 54 per cent to a record £1,971 for a typical home.
The Octopus Renewables deal will see it almost double its wind capacity over the next decade, with wind farms in the UK, Sweden, France and Finland providing a combined capacity to power almost half a million homes a year.
Octopus, which has operations around the UK including a major base in Leicester, already sells 100 per cent renewable electricity, much of it coming from solar.
Its domestic energy arm supplies 3.1 million customers with greener power through Octopus Energy, M&S Energy, Affect Energy, Ebico, London Power and Co-op Energy.
Group chief executive recently warned that the group expects it to take a £100 million hit from the record rise in wholesale energy costs.
In the UK, Octopus Renewables is investing in a joint venture to develop nine onshore wind farms with Wind 2 Limited, a specialist UK wind farm developer.
The new wind farms will be developed across Scotland and Wales over the next five to 10 years.
The business is also expanding its footprint in Sweden with its third deal in the country, buying a ready-to-build onshore wind farm in the south of the country from OX2, a European renewable energy developer.
Once built, the seven turbines will generate enough to power 18,000 homes annually.
The Octopus fund has also taken on an onshore wind farm in north-east Brittany, after a deal with Germany’s Energiequelle.
It has six turbines and a guaranteed government contract to sell green power at a fixed price for 20 years.
In the final investment, Octopus Renewables has acquired two onshore wind farms in Finland, generating enough energy to power more than 45,000 homes, avoiding what it says is the equivalent of 68,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
Those wind farms have a five-year agreement with Baltic energy company Eesti Energia.
Octopus Energy Generation chief executive Zoisa North-Bond said: “We’re blown away by the prospect of building so many wind farms in the UK and further afield in Europe.
“We’re passionate about accelerating the transition to green energy across the globe - and these deals will hugely boost our wind power portfolio.
“The energy crisis has shown how exposed Europe is to global fossil fuel prices. These new wind farms will help Europe reduce its reliance on gas and become energy independent. Stepping up renewable generation will help deliver Net Zero targets and supercharge the green energy revolution.”
Last December, 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 Pension 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.
