British utility Octopus Energy’s generation arm has surpassed $2 billion (£1.5 billion) in offshore wind investments in two years.
Having entered the offshore wind market in 2022, the company is targeting £15 billion in offshore wind investments worldwide by 2030, having launched its own offshore wind fund, Vector, last year. Octopus has stakes in three offshore wind farms in the UK, including Lincs, Hornsea One and Walney Extension.
Through Vector, it invested in the US-headquartered technology company Ocergy. Ocergy uses a hyper-local supply chain approach to designing and manufacturing floating offshore wind foundations.
Octopus last week announced that its ‘Fan Club’ tariff, which offers customers overlooking offshore wind turbines between Grimsby and Skegness—where the Lincs offshore wind farm, majority-owned by Ørsted, is located—a 50% discount on electricity bills if customers use energy at times when the turbines are generating power.
The UK’s installed offshore wind capacity is set to quadruple by 2030. However, grid constraints mean that when winds are high the electricity system operator pays wind power plants to come offline to prevent oversupply.
Encouraging customers to use the excess electricity means lower constraint costs and lower bills for consumers.
Zoisa North-Bond, CEO of Octopus Energy Generation, said: “We’re strong believers in wind power’s massive role as a cornerstone of energy systems globally. Our ability to invest over $2 billion into offshore wind in just two years is the start.
“Wind can create a greener and cheaper energy system for people around the world. We are now geared up to unleash billions more into offshore wind projects worldwide.”
Octopus Energy offshore wind fund
The offshore wind fund was launched after a £190 million investment from Japanese energy giant Tokyo Gas. With a focus on Europe, Octopus said at the time that it planned to invest the entirety of the £3 billion allotted to the fund by 2030.
In December 2020, Octopus Energy entered into a strategic partnership with Tokyo Gas to launch its brand in Japan, operated by both companies as Octopus Energy TG. The agreement also saw Tokyo Gas take a 9.7% equity stake for a consideration of $200 million (£160 million).
Octopus has stakes in two Netherlands offshore wind projects, and in 2023, it took a 5% stake in Butendiek, an 80-turbine wind farm with a capacity of 288MW that has been operational in Germany since 2015.
