- Octopus expands in Spain and enters Portugal’s green generation market
- Backs FFNEV to create 1.6GW green power for nearly 1m homes by 2030
- Latest deal by Octopus Energy Development Partnership (OEDP) to build new green energy, reduce Europe’s gas reliance and lower energy bills
According to the company’s website press release on December 22, 2022, Octopus Energy’s generation arm expands green power in Iberia by investing in renewables developer FF New Energy Ventures (FFNEV) to develop more cheap green power, reducing fossil fuels reliance.
The Octopus Energy Development Partnership (OEDP) investment in Spanish-founded FFNEV will scale activity in Spain and Portugal, and accelerate expansion into new European countries and Latin America in the future. This marks Octopus’ first entry into Portugal’s green generation market.
FFNEV has 2.1GW of renewable projects in their pipeline already and is also participating in floating offshore wind development with a target of 5GW. With this latest funding they’re targeting 1.6GW new solar and storage sites in these markets by 2030. This could power nearly 1 million homes, avoiding 945,000 tonnes of CO2, the equivalent of removing nearly 520,000 petrol cars and planting over 4.6 million trees.
Spain is one of Europe’s most active solar markets, with 15GW of solar capacity, and huge untapped potential to meet targets to increase its renewable electricity generation to 74% by 2030. Portugal has 2GW of solar power - and this year announced plans to generate 80% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2026 to replace gas-fired electricity generation.
The €220m OEDP fund, which was launched in September this year and is managed by Octopus Energy’s generation arm, invests in early stages of new green energy generation. OEDP has so far invested in UK renewables developer Exagen to build one of Britain’s largest batteries and in Nexta to create 1.1GW of green energy in Italy. The partnership with FFNEV marks the fund’s third investment, with more coming up across Europe.
Zoisa North-Bond, CEO of Octopus Energy Generation, comments: “Now more than ever before, we need to build more green power to help reduce gas reliance and bring down energy bills. Investments like this deal with FFNEV will help make a difference quickly. This latest news is only the beginning for us - as we’ve got big plans in this part of Europe.”
Vicente Lopez-Ibor Mayor, Chairman of FFNEV, said: “We founded and started FFNEV in 2018 and have been busy developing a top quality pipeline in Iberia, driven by our successful, recognised and experienced team. We’re delighted to be building on our long-standing relationship with Octopus and have no doubt this latest backing will accelerate FFNEV’s growth in Iberia and abroad.”
Roberto Giner, CEO of Octopus Energy Spain, said: “We’ve always been driven by our commitment to transform the energy system to 100% renewables. This latest news is an exciting milestone in Octopus’ journey in Spain as we continue to grow our footprint.”
This latest renewables deal is the next step in Octopus’ strategy in Spain. Octopus Energy Spain launched as a retail energy supplier in August 2021 after acquiring green energy startup Umeme, offering customers 100% green energy tariffs.
In August 2022, Octopus Energy Spain acquired the solar division of Valencian company Solger Energy. Solger Energy became part of Octopus Energy’s Services arm in Spain, with the target to complete more than 80,000 household solar installations in Spain in five years.
Octopus Energy Generation is one of Europe’s largest renewables investors, managing assets worth over £5bn. The fund management team has worked in renewables in Spain since 2020 where it agreed to conditionally acquire four solar farms once they become ready to build, on behalf of the Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust (ORIT) fund it manages.
Notes to editors:
Amy Boekstein
PR Manager
+44 (0)20 4530 8369
About Octopus Energy Generation
Octopus Energy Generation is driving the renewable energy agenda and building green power for the future. This means reshaping the market by leading the transition to a cleaner, greener future through renewable projects connected more deeply to customers and businesses.
As one of Europe’s largest investors in renewable energy, its fund management specialist team launched in 2010 with a mission to accelerate the transition to a future powered by renewable energy. This team manages over 3 GW of renewable energy assets like wind and solar farms across 12 countries, worth over £5bn. These renewable projects generate enough green energy to power 2 million homes every year, and is the equivalent of taking over 1 million petrol cars off the road. The business also launched the Fan Club in the UK 2021, the world's first local energy tariff that provides cheaper, greener energy to customers living near local wind turbines when the wind blows, with a discount of up to 50%. Thousands of people have got in touch asking for the Fan Club in their community.
For more information, check out this website.
About Octopus Energy Group
Octopus Energy Group is a global energy tech pioneer, launched in 2016 to use technology to unlock a customer focused and affordable green energy revolution. It is part of Octopus Group, which is a certified BCorp. With operations in 15 countries, Octopus Energy Group's mission is going global.
Octopus’s domestic energy arm already serves 3.4 million customers with cheaper greener power, through Octopus Energy, M&S Energy, Affect Energy, Ebico, London Power and Co-op Energy. Octopus Electric Vehicles is helping make clean transport cheaper and easier, and Octopus Energy Services is bringing smart products to thousands of homes. Octopus Energy Generation is one of Europe’s largest investors in renewable energy, managing a £4 billion portfolio of renewable energy assets throughout the continent.
All of these are made possible by Octopus’s tech arm, Kraken Technologies, which offers a proprietary, in-house platform based on advanced data and machine learning capabilities, Kraken automates much of the energy supply chain to allow outstanding service and efficiency as the world transitions to a decentralised, decarbonised energy system. This technology has been licensed to support over 20 million customer accounts worldwide, through deals with EDF Energy, Good Energy, E.ON energy and Origin Energy.
In December 2021, Octopus Energy Group was valued at approximately $5 billion following investments from Generation Investment Management and Canada Pensions 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.
For more information, check out this website.
