Energy Transition

UK's Octopus stretches deeper into Iberian solar via gigascale deal with Spanish start-up

Developer's investment in FFNEV intended to spur scale-up of project portfolio on European mainland, as wider clean energy portfolio, including gigawatts of floating wind, takes shape

. Octopus solar.
. Octopus solar.Foto: Octopus Energy

UK renewables developer Octopus Energy Generation has taken a stake in Spanish clean-energy outfit FFNEV with an eye on deployment of 1.6GW of new solar and storage projects in Iberian market by the end of the decade.

The investment in FFNEV, which currently has 2.1GW pipeline of renewable projects and a target of building 5GW of floating wind, is being channelled from the €220m ($234m) Octopus Energy Development Partnership (OEDP) fund.

“Now more than ever before, we need to build more green power to help reduce gas reliance and bring down energy bills. Investments like this deal with FFNEV will help make a difference quickly,” said Zoisa North-Bond, CEO of Octopus Energy Generation.

Vicente Lopez-Ibor Mayor, chairman of FFNEV, said: “We founded and started FFNEV in 2018 and have been busy developing a top quality pipeline in Iberia. We have no doubt this latest backing [from Octopus] will accelerate FFNEV’s growth in Iberia and abroad.”

The OEDP solar and storage investment – which will lead to the construction of plant able to power almost 1m homes and savings of 945,000 tonnes of CO2 – is expected to rev up Octopus’ activity in Spain and Portugal and “accelerate expansion into new European countries and Latin America in the future”, said the company.

Spain is one of Europe’s most bullish solar markets, with 15GW of plant capacity, and government ambitions to increase renewable electricity generation in the national energy mix to 74% by 2030. Portugal has 2GW of solar - and this year announced plans to generate 80% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2026 to replace gas-fired electricity.

Solar power additions in the EU jumped by a staggering 47% this year led by an installation boom in Germany (+7.9GW), Spain (+7.5GW) and Poland (+4.9GW), as Europe rushed to replace curtailed Russian energy imports with home-grown renewable energy.
In 2021, Octopus took over the solar division of Spain’s Solger Energy, with the target to complete more than 80,000 residential installations in the country in five years, and later in the year announced plans to pursue construction of as much as 500MW of new PV and battery storage projects in the UK by mid-decade with developer Gridsource.
Last month Octopus, which has over €5.6bn in renewable assets on its book, signed off on €25m of financial backing for Irish blue economy developer Simply Blue, adding to a 24% stake taken last year in the Irish blue economy developer to spur ahead plans for a 10GW pipeline of floating wind projects off the UK and in wider international waters.
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Published 22 December 2022, 15:44Updated 23 December 2022, 12:20
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