Octopus Energy Generation has made a multi-million pound investment in Lincs wind farm, marking its first acquisition in the operational large offshore wind space.
It has bought a c.8% stake in the 260MW offshore wind farm, which sits off the coast of Skegness in the East of England and has been in operation since 2013. The wind farm is made up of 75 turbines across 35 square kilometres and is operated by Ørsted.
Offshore wind is a core pillar in the UK’s transition to a decarbonised electricity system, with 11GW already operational. In the government’s British Energy Security Strategy, it increased the target for the rollout of the technology again, to 50GW by 2030.
“We’re extremely excited to make our first green waves in offshore wind energy – a key pillar of the UK’s renewable energy mix,” Zoisa North-Bond, CEO of Octopus Energy Generation said.
“The UK has tremendous offshore wind resources. By backing a large onshore wind farm as well as developing floating offshore wind power, we’re tapping into this vital technology to accelerate our journey to energy independence.”
The acquisition follows Octopus investing in floating offshore wind developer Simply Blue Group in 2021, when it bought a 24% stake. This was designed to help the company expand at pace, and indeed it has grown five-fold over the last 18 months, with a global pipeline of 9GW of offshore wind projects, of which 3GW are in the UK and Ireland.
Beyond offshore wind, the company recently launched its ‘Plots for Kilowatts’ scheme, where landowners are encouraged to register interest in hosting an onshore wind turbine on their land. This builds on the Octopus Energy’s local wind tariff – dubbed ‘the Fan Club’ – which was launched in January 2021, offering communities living close to its wind turbines up to 50% discount on their energy rates.
Octopus Energy Generation now manages 3GW of renewable energy including wind and solar across seven countries, with a portfolio worth over £4 billion.
“We’re dipping our toe in the water with this investment – but this is only the beginning,” added North-Bond. “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.”
