Octopus bets big on wind power with four new European deals
Octopus Renewables will nearly double its wind power capabilities after reaching four new deals to ramp up power generation across the continent – including the UK.
Collectively, the deals will boost its wind generation portfolio by up to 90 per cent, adding up to 690 MW of capacity over the next decade.
Once developed, the wind farms could power almost half a million European homes.
Octopus Renewables are the energy specialists within Octopus Energy Group’s generation business – and already manages 745 MW of wind assets.
The bulk of the new energy will be provided domestically, with Octopus Renewables investing in a joint venture to develop nine onshore wind farms with specialist developer Wind 2 Limited.
The new wind farms will be built across Scotland and Wales over the next five to 10 years, with a potential combined capacity of approximately 570 MW.
Prior to the deal, Octopus chief executive Greg Jackson told City PM the UK has to ramp up renewables to wean itself off Russian gas.
He said: “Because every single wind turbine we build will reduce our demand for gas we need to, as quick as we can, move to a system where gas is the filler for renewables rather than the base-load. That’s going to be a couple of years out.”
“We need to be honest with people that we don’t know what the picture is for the next year or two when we’re so dependent on gas. We need to treat the energy crisis with the same sense of urgency we did the Coronavirus crisis. The way that we deployed vaccines that normally take 15 years in one year, we need to deploy energy solutions at that pace now.”
Octopus Renewables is also developing wind farms across Finland, Sweden and France.
It has acquired two onshore wind farms in Finland, with a combined capacity of 71.4 MW – with enough power to generate enough energy to power over 45,000 homes,
The renewables group is expanding its footprint in Sweden with a third deal in the country, announcing plans to buy a ready to build onshore wind farm in Marhult from OX2.
The energy giant will also be managing a French onshore wind farm in north-east Brittany following a deal with Energiequelle, a German project developer and operator of renewable assets and storage facilities.
Commenting on the deal, Zoisa North-Bond, CEO of Octopus Energy Generation, 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.”