Octopus Energy Generation is one of Europe’s largest investors in renewable energy. Its fund management team launched in 2010 with a mission to accelerate the transition to a future powered by green energy.
Find out how we partnered with them through solar energy farms in the UK:
The UKRF currently invests in 26 UK-based solar farms through Octopus Energy Generation, bringing home-grown green energy to local homes and businesses, and to the grid.
These renewable assets are making a positive impact on people and the planet. Over the course of a year (July 2021-July 2022), these assets produced 194GWh, saving 69,000 tonnes of CO2. This is the equivalent of powering 67,000 UK homes, taking 38,000 cars off the road for a year, and planting 340,000 trees.
As well as generating clean, green power, these sites also offer an ideal habitat for a wide range of species. Octopus’s renewable energy specialists work with asset managers, landowners, ecologists, and local councils to put land management programmes in place, specific to each site. These programmes are designed to responsibly manage the site and also to promote its biodiversity, creating great habitats for lots of different animals and plants.
Below are a few examples of ways the biodiversity of these solar farm sites has been enhanced:
- Installation of bat and bird boxes
- Dedicated routes for badgers created through ‘mammal gates’ in the sites’ perimeters
- Sheep grazing on site, meaning grassland is managed naturally
Renewable power can coexist well with plants and animals, powering our world cleanly whilst keeping local environments happy and healthy too. For each renewables site we manage, we always look at how we can both make the most of its potential to generate green energy and enhance its biodiversity.
Alex Brierley, Co-head,
Octopus Energy Generation
The UKRF continues to invest in renewables as part of our drive to net zero. You can read more about our ambition to achieve net zero here. In summary, the UKRF sees climate change as a key financial risk affecting our investment asset portfolio, and in the interest of members, we aim to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and to be net zero carbon by 2050 or sooner.
For more information about Octopus Energy Generation, please visit:
www.octopusenergygeneration.com/fund-management/
What this means for you
As the world looks to more sustainable, renewable energy, we are committed to collaborating with asset managers and companies investing in these areas. Octopus Energy Generation is a great example of this, by generating renewable energy whilst taking steps to protect and enhance the biodiversity of the renewables sites they manage. In addition to investments, collaborative initiatives can be powerful in effecting positive change, and the UKRF chooses to be a participant in select initiatives. You can read more about these initiatives here.