Octopus inks deal for German wind farm as it ramps up European expansion
Octopus Energy (Octopus) has made its first wind farm investment in Germany, backing a project that could power nearly 40,000 homes.
Octopus Energy Generation’s management team will build Gaishecke – a 35 megawatt (MW) onshore wind farm in Hessen, near Frankfurt.
It bought the rights for the construction of the wind farm from a consortium of sellers for an undisclosed fee.
Construction will begin in the next few weeks, with the aim of the 10-wind turbine becoming operational by the end of 2023.
Once built, it will generate almost 100,000 MW hours – providing enough green energy to power nearly 40,000 households a year.
This could offset nearly 60,000 tonnes of CO2 on annual basis – the same as taking 30,000 petrol cars off the road.
The deal is expected to be the first of multiple agreements across the country, with its fund management team already scoping out further sites.
By the end of the decade, the company is planning to operate 1,200 MW of wind and solar farms across the country.
The company first entered the German market in November 2020, and has since reached a deal to supply power to German Tesla Powerwall customers.
Over the past year, Octopus’ German customer base has grown tenfold, recently crossing the 120,000 households threshold.
The company is now targeting one million customers over the next two years.
Zoisa North-Bond, chief executive of Octopus Energy Generation, said: “We’re huge fans of Germany’s wind market and can’t wait to build this wind farm – which will be the first of many – to bring even more cheap green energy to people and help secure energy independence.”
Octopus Energy Generation currently manages 3 GW of renewable energy assets across Europe.
The company is stepping up its generation capabilities, planning to create 18 GW of clean energy generation projects across the world by 2027.