Octopus Energy Generation, one of Europe’s largest specialist renewables investors, is making a major Europe-wide push into the wind energy market, acquiring 321MW onshore wind farms across 17 sites. Its fund management team has invested €584m in wind farms in France, Germany and Poland, on behalf of the Sky fund it manages, accelerating homegrown power across key European markets. These wind farms will generate enough clean power for over 250,000 homes.

Octopus now manages over 400 large-scale renewables projects across the globe, as it continues to scale cheap, green power at lightning speed. With these latest deals, it manages 67 onshore wind farms in Europe, including the UK, France, Germany, Poland, Ireland, Sweden and Finland.

This comes as power generated from onshore wind continues to fall as one of the cheapest sources of energy. It already plays a significant role in Europe’s energy system, with 265GW of onshore wind installed – including 17GW last year alone.

French winds, fresh wins

Octopus has acquired 143.5MW of wind farms in France – its largest renewables market in continental Europe. These wind farms are a mix of operational and construction stages and, once fully built, will generate a steady flow of green electricity for around 65,000 French homes every year.

They are located across 10 sites in Hauts-de-France, Grand Est, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Brittany, Centre-Val de Loire and Nouvelle-Aquitaine.

Accelerating Germany’s Energiewende

Octopus has also acquired four wind farms with 102.5MW in capacity across Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Hesse and Baden-Württemberg. Two are already up and running, generating clean power today, while the remaining two are under construction.

Together, these projects generate clean power for 71,000 German homes annually. Octopus has now made its 15th deal in Germany since entering the market a few years ago, underlining its rapid expansion.

Plugging into Poland’s renewables opportunity

In addition, Octopus acquired three operational wind farms with a combined capacity of 75MW in the windy north of Poland. These generate enough clean energy to power 120,000 Polish homes a year.

The deal also includes access to a pipeline of new renewable projects in development, strengthening Octopus’ long-term position in the market, as the country accelerates its shift away from coal towards a cleaner and more diverse energy mix.