Octopus sees ‘electric’ demand for shares in green energy projects
A new investment platform allowing consumers to purchase shares in green energy projects has sold out within its first week.
Octopus Energy had initially offered investors the chance to buy holdings in two wind turbines via the platform, which is known ‘the Collective’.
Such has been the level of demand for the scheme that the energy supplier on Thursday put out a call for other projects to express their interest in signing up. It signals a growing interest from the public in a more democratised funding approach to the energy transition.
The Collective lets investors directly buy shares of listed green projects like wind and solar farms, investing anywhere between £25 to £20,000. They also have an option to link any potential dividends to their energy accounts to reduce bills.
Octopus said hundreds had bought shares in the first two wind schemes, based in Yorkshire and Wales, over the last seven days.
“One in three people we surveyed said they wanted to invest in green power and the response we’ve seen since launching has been nothing short of electric,” Zoisa North-Bond, chief executive of Octopus Energy Collective, said.
“Selling out our first two projects in just a week shows just how much demand there is to reshape and democratise how green energy is funded and owned.
She added: “We’re now also inviting other projects to register their interest in listing on our platform to unleash even more public ownership of renewables. By adding more projects onto ‘the Collective’, we can empower even more people to take part in the clean energy revolution.”
Launching the initiative made Octopus Energy the first energy company in the UK with a retail investment platform regulated by the FCA.