- Britain's Octopus Energy Group has bought a 24% stake in large-scale battery developer and solar power company Exagen through a new renewables fund, it said on Wednesday.
The Exagen stake is the debut investment for the Octopus Energy Development Partnership (OEDP), which is managed by Octopus Energy Generation and has earmarked 220 million euros ($218 million) for solar, onshore wind and energy storage projects in the UK and the rest of Europe.
The deal with Exagen includes an option to purchase a standalone battery capable of exporting the equivalent electricity usage of 235,000 homes from 2027, the group said.
The agreement also covers the purchase of three solar farms including battery storage with a combined 400 megawatts (MW) of capacity, Octopus Energy added.
"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," Zoisa North-Bond, chief executive of Octopus Energy Generation, said in a statement.
($1 = 1.0076 euros)
(This story officially corrects to remove reference to planned start up date in fourth paragraph after the company corrected its statement to say it could not say at this stage)
