London — Britain’s Octopus Energy said on Thursday its Octopus Energy Generation business had acquired a 10% stake in the East Anglia One wind farm, one of the world’s largest operational wind farms, powering around 700,000 homes a year.
The deal, financial terms of which were not disclosed, is the fourth investment by the unit in a British offshore wind farm and its seventh in Europe.
Octopus Energy Generation manages a portfolio of around 1.7 gigawatts of renewable power in Britain worth 5 billion pounds ($6.5 billion), and has projects in several other countries such as Germany and the United States.
The 714 megawatt wind farm, 43 kilometres (27 miles) off the coast of eastern England, has 102 turbines.
Octopus bought the stake from Macquarie Asset Management on behalf of Vector, Octopus’ innovative offshore wind fund, which invests in fixed and floating offshore wind and pioneering technology to reduce costs.
“Britain is blessed with strong winds and long coastlines – perfect conditions for offshore wind. The sector has become a vital pillar of our energy system over the past years, and this investment will help to turbocharge this clean technology further, bringing cheaper, greener power to people across the country,” said Zoisa North-Bond, CEO of Octopus Energy Generation.
Octopus also plans to participate in France’s offshore wind tender and develop a new offshore wind farm in partnership with Skyborn Renewables.
Last year, Britain’s Labour government ended an effective ban on new wind farms in England. It has a goal to decarbonise the country’s electricity system by 2030 and has set out to help unblock infrastructure projects as it seeks to boost renewable power capacity.
Reporting by Marwa Rashad Editing by Mark Potter – Reuters
