Octopus Energy buy French wind farm

Octopus Energy Investments have bought an 18MW wind farm which is still under construction in France. The purchase was made from UK company Renewable Energy Systems (RES) Ltd.

Although this won’t be Octopus’ first foray into wind energy (they already have a portfolio in the UK of around 230MW ), it will be the first time they’ve bought a wind project outside of the UK.

Co-head of Octopus Energy Investments, Alex Brierly, told Smart Energy ,

The wind farm bought by Octopus isn’t quite built yet. Located at Roche Quatre Rivieres, it is expected that the 18MW project will be operational by the end of this year. RES will continue to construct, and asset manage the facility on behalf of Octopus Investments. Their head of project finance and acquisitions in France, Alexandre Zanger, told ReNews ,

“RES has already established a strong relationship with Octopus, however, this is the first project in France and, having operated in the country for 20 years, RES is perfectly placed to support any expansion ambitions Octopus may have.”

This is the third wind farm that Octopus have purchased from RES but is the first wind farm acquisition to be bought outside of the UK. They have previously invested in solar PV in France, and are investing in the construction of two wind farms in Finland , pegged to be rated at 71.4MW combined.

In the story of Octopus Energy, the Octopus Group came first. Founded in 2000, the company originally began life as Octopus Investments, allegedly born in the living room of one of its three founders. By 2007, they had grown to 50 employees and launched Octopus Ventures, which goes on to found Zoopla, one of the biggest real estate portals in the UK.

By 2014, they branched out into healthcare too, but it wasn’t until 2015 that they launched Octopus Energy. This came about as the Group recognised the important role that energy would play in the UK’s future, and began investing in renewable energy and smart technology to benefit the supply industry.

The company claims to be the UK’s largest investor in solar farm, a major investor in wind and anaerobic digestion, as well as pioneers in new technology to provide flexibility in the grid. They also claim they can switch customer’s accounts in ‘less time than it takes to boil an egg’, with their record standing at just 53 seconds!