Exagen, a batteries startup from the UK, has become the first beneficiary of Octopus Energy’s new renewables fund, which sits at a total of €220 million. The fund, Octopus Energy Development Partnership (OEDP) aims to support the transition to renewable energy sources.
The cost of living is spiralling, energy prices are skyrocketing and anxiety surrounding energy supply as winter draws closer is growing. At the same time, the environmental crisis and climate change aren’t going anywhere and governments are scrambling to pull Europe to NetZero. It paints a pretty gloomy picture.
The push to use more renewable energy sources is more urgent than ever. It’s essential for the health of our planet and to promote sustainable ways of living. Octopus Energy has announced a €220 million fund – Octopus Energy Development Partnership (OEDP) to build a new future of green energy and it just made its first investment.
Octopus Energy Development Partnership – OEDP
The fund will focus on investing in the early stages of building green energy tech. The aim is to find those businesses and innovations that are helping to reduce Europe’s dependence on gas imports – thereby making Europe more independent when it comes to energy, more sustainable, more green and reducing energy bills for consumers.
Octopus Energy is particularly targeting projects related to solar, onshore wind and energy storage projects.
Zoisa North-Bond, CEO of Octopus Energy Generation, explained: “This fund is helping to unlock huge amounts of new renewable energy across Europe, turbocharging the journey to greater energy security. The more new green power we can build, the faster we can reduce our dependence on gas imports and drive down energy bills for people in the UK and the rest of Europe.”
The €220 million fund has now made its first move, taking a 24% stake in Exagen, valued at about €40 million.
Exagen: Driving down greenhouse gas emissions
Based in London, Exagen has been working in partnership with landowners, farmers and local communities since 2019 to promote renewable energy sources and reduce carbon emissions. The startup specializes in building and managing utility-scale solar farms that are co-located with grid-balancing battery storage technology.
This deal with Octopus Energy includes the option to purchase one of the UK’s largest batteries at 500 MW / 1 GWh which is expected to be operational by 2027. In addition, as part of the transaction, OEDP has acquired three solar farms with batteries onsite which are currently under development by Exagen.
The investment from OEDP is giving Exagen a big cash injection and also helping to fuel development on these key projects that are aiming to decarbonise the UK.
Exagen founder and CEO, Jeremy Littman commented: “All of us at Exagen are thrilled by this ground-breaking deal with Octopus, which will support us in our mission to build smarter, flexible renewable generation projects across the grid. I believe our commitment to our staff, our technology-focused approach to operations, and above all our passion for local communities and the environment has aligned us with the Octopus team.”
Alex Brierley, the co-head of Octopus Energy Generation’s fund management team, added: “Making the first investment from this new renewable development fund is a major milestone for us and we’ve got some more coming up. Working with Exagen, there’s a massive opportunity to scale solar and battery storage projects – and these will play an absolutely integral role in the flexible renewable energy system of the future.”
