London’s Octopus Energy launches new €220M fund, makes first investment in Exagen

London-based Octopus Energy Group, a company that uses technology to make the green energy revolution affordable, announced on Wednesday, August 24, that it has launched a new €220M renewables fund called Octopus Energy Development Partnership (OEDP). 

Last month, Octopus Energy raised $325M (then, nearly €319.73M) in a round of funding to improve its energy technology platform, Kraken, and invest in products and solutions to solve the energy crisis and drive renewables at scale.

What to expect from this fund?

The new fund, OEDP, focuses on making early investments in the development of new green energy, which it says is essential to reducing Europe’s reliance on gas imports and bringing down future energy costs.

Targeting solar, onshore wind, and energy storage projects in the UK and the rest of Europe, OEDP is run by Octopus Energy Generation. According to Octopus, there’s also potential to optimise assets through KrakenFlex, Octopus’ flexibility and trading platform, which currently manages 1,300 MW of green energy assets.

Zoisa North-Bond, CEO of Octopus Energy Generation, says, “This fund is helping to unlock huge amounts of new renewable energy across Europe, turbocharging the journey to greater energy security. The more new green power we can build, the faster we can reduce our dependence on gas imports and drive down energy bills for people in the UK and the rest of Europe.”

OEDP’s first investment

According to a statement from Octopus Energy, this “multi-million-pound deal” includes the purchase of a 24 per cent share in renewables developer Exagen to build new green energy and grow the UK’s energy storage capacity; and the option to buy a 500 MW/1 GWh battery in the Midlands, England, which will be the biggest in the UK when it is operational by 2027.

As part of the deal, OEDP has also bought three solar farms in the Midlands and North East of England that Exagen is now building and that have on-site batteries. Currently, Exagen has a pipeline of 2.4 GW solar and battery storage projects, with a total capacity of about 400 MW.

Jeremy Littman, founder and CEO of Exagen, says, “We are thrilled by this deal with Octopus, which will support us in our mission to build smarter, flexible renewable generation projects across the grid, enabling communities access to cleaner, cheaper energy. I believe our commitment to our staff, our technology-focused approach to operations, and above all our passion for local communities and the environment has aligned us with the Octopus team and we’re all looking forward to delivering on our promise together.”

Brief about Octopus Energy Group

Founded in 2016 by Greg Jackson, James Eddison, and Stuart Jackson, Octopus Energy Group is on a mission to use technology to make the green energy revolution affordable and in the process, transform customer experiences.

The firm’s domestic energy arm serves about 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, while Octopus Energy Services is focused on bringing smart products to homes. Octopus Energy Generation is one of Europe’s largest investors in renewable energy, managing a £3.4B portfolio of renewable energy assets throughout the continent.

All these services are made possible by Octopus’s tech arm, Kraken Technologies, which offers a proprietary platform based on advanced data and machine learning capabilities.