Octopus snaps up two German wind farms in European push

Octopus Energy Generation (Octopus) has announced two new deals for German onshore wind farms worth a combined 57GW.

The renewable generation arm of Octopus Energy Group is aiming to boost German green power and reduce Europe’s reliance on imported gas. 

The two wind farms combined will be able to power over 41,000 homes, the equivalent of cutting over 55,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions every year. 

Octopus has snapped up a wind farm from renewables developer JUWI and Wiwi Consult on behalf of its Sky fund.

The wind farm is currently under construction with Wiwi as the contractor and is located in Wörrstadt near Frankfurt.

The 22.4MW site be operational in 2023, and will consist of four Vestas turbines which are each 241m tall, higher than the Gherkin building in London.

In a separate deal, Octopus has agreed to buy the Leeskow wind farm near Dresden from wind farm developer UKA, on behalf of Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust (ORIT).

The 34.6 MW wind farm has seven Nordex wind turbines and became fully operational this month. 

Octopus continues German expansion

Currently, Octopus is one of Europe’s largest renewable energy investors, managing 3 GW of green energy assets across Europe worth £4.4bn.

The two deals follow Octopus entering the German generation market three months ago.

The company plans to operate 1,200 MW of wind and solar farms in Germany by 2030, and is now scoping out additional renewables sites. 

Onshore wind is one of the cheapest forms of energy, with Germany forecast to be Europe’s largest wind market in the next five years.

Its Government has also introduced measures earlier this year to accelerate onshore wind power as one way to help reduce reliance on Russian fossil fuels, according to Reuters.

Zoisa North-Bond, chief executive of Octopus Energy Generation said: “After entering Germany’s renewable generation market for the first time earlier this year, we’re really accelerating momentum with these two latest wind farm deals. We’re continuing to ramp up our renewable generation capabilities across Europe as more local cheap green energy is needed now more than ever as countries look to secure greater energy independence.”