The generation arm of Britain’s Octopus Energy has made a debut offshore wind investment in Germany with the acquisition of a 5% stake in 288-MW Butendiek wind park in the North Sea from ewz, the Zurich Municipal Electric Utility.
The 80-turbine offshore wind farm has been in operation since 2015.
Octopus said on Monday the deal is the next step in its global offshore wind strategy, noting that Germany is currently the third-largest offshore wind market, after China and Britain and has an ambitious 70 GW offshore wind target by 2045. Octopus has committed to unleashing USD 20 billion (EUR 18.7bn) in offshore wind investment globally.
“The prospects for offshore wind globally are incredibly promising. The more projects we realise, the faster we will see energy bills come down and end our reliance on dirty fossil fuels,” commented Octopus Energy Generation chief executive Zoisa North-Bond.
The latest purchase, made by the Octopus Energy Generation’s Sky fund (ORI SCSp), is also part of Octopus’ plans to invest more than EUR 1 billion in green energy and infrastructure in Germany by 2030. Since entering the market last year, the company invested in four onshore wind farms with a combined capacity of 100 MW.
(USD 1 = EUR 0.936)