Octopus Energy to unleash $20bn of investment in offshore wind by 2030
Octopus Energy’s generation arm, which manages $7.7bn (£6bn) billion worth of green energy projects globally, has announced plans to unleash $20bn (£15bn) of investment into offshore wind by 2030.
This will go towards the generation of 12 GW of renewable electricity a year, enough power for 10 million homes. Octopus is targeting projects across the globe, with a focus on Europe – and already has several deals
in the pipeline. It will back developers of new offshore wind farms as well as wind farms that are under construction or operational. The global energy and technology group first entered the offshore wind farm market last year and has since made five offshore deals, amounting to a total of $1bn (£800k).
Octopus has stakes in the Lincs offshore wind farm and one of the world’s largest wind farms, Hornsea One – both off the east coast of England – and it acquired the Borssele V wind farm in the Netherlands, which has some of the world’s largest turbines.
It also backs Simply Blue, a developer of innovative floating offshore wind projects, a type of offshore wind technology that taps into strong winds deeper out at sea.
Scaling investment in offshore wind will not only create more clean energy but also numerous job opportunities. Latest forecasts show the offshore wind sector will create over 100,000 jobs by 2030 in the UK alone*.
Zoisa North-Bond, CEO of Octopus Energy Generation, said: “Offshore wind has already rapidly transformed the UK’s energy system – and we’re incredibly excited about the potential for this technology globally. We’ve got big plans to invest in even more of these big fans to help wean ourselves off polluting gas. Offshore wind will undoubtedly continue to play a pivotal role in meeting net zero, boosting energy security and driving down bills.”
