Octopus Renewables has wrapped its tentacles around a combined 16.8MW of wind power, spread across two facilities in South Lanarkshire, Scotland and Northamptonshire, England.
Already one of the major players in renewable infrastructure and the largest commercial solar energy investor in Europe, Octopus Renewables is now adding even more wind power to its £3 billion portfolio of renewable assets.
Its new onshore wind facilities will generate enough energy to power the equivalent of 17,000 UK homes and will avoid carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to removing nearly 50,000 petrol or diesel vehicles from the roads.
Peter Dias, Investment Director at Octopus Renewables, said: “This acquisition adds to our ever-expanding onshore wind portfolio that has seen us become a market leader in the technology. REIP III is also a great example of our ability to unblock further institutional investment in renewables by creating bespoke portfolios of assets for investors.
“This is important as increased institutional investment in renewables will be vital if the UK is to reach its target of net zero by 2050.”
The wind farms were purchased from a conglomerate of sellers including Muirhall Energy and WWS Renewables. Chris Walker, managing director of Muirhall Energy, said the funds achieved by the sale of the wind farms to Octopus will allow the companies to continue creating renewable infrastructure for the UK, including 300MW of consented sites to build over the next 24 months and an additional 1GW in development.
“The funds achieved by this sale will help us realise those renewable energy opportunities, extend our commitment to the communities in which we work, and contribute to reaching the green energy targets set by the Scottish and Westminster Governments,” Walker said.
Octopus Renewables is the clean energy investor arm of the Octopus Group, which owns rapidly growing green energy supplier Octopus Energy. Octopus currently supplies 1.4 million households, or around 5% of the UK domestic energy market, with green energy.
