Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) is investing US$300m (€265m) in Octopus Energy Group as part of a new long-term strategic partnership to help fund the renewable-energy specialist’s global expansion.
The deal follows a US$600m investment in Octopus Energy by Generation Investment Management in September and increases its valuation to approximately US$5bn.
UK-based Octopus Energy provides green energy to three million customers in the UK, and has expanded into Germany, Spain, Italy, the US, Japan and New Zealand.
The initial commitment from CPP Investments will help grow Octopus’s digital customer-services platform Kraken and boost its smart-grid capabilities.
It will also help expand the company’s green energy generation, including the Fan Club, the UK’s first renewable-energy tariff that gives communities close to certain wind turbines cheaper power when the blades are spinning significantly.
CPP Investments, which manages the assets of the C$541bn (€377bn) pension fund, has been building its exposure to renewable energy through its C$19.5bn Sustainable Energies Group, led by Bruce Hogg.
Deborah Orida, chief sustainability officer, senior managing director and global Head of Real Assets at CPP Investments, said: “In the decades to come, some of the most rewarding long-term investment opportunities in the global economy rest among those businesses that will enable, evolve and innovate along the path to a net-zero world. As a large, long-term investor, we are well-positioned to continue our leadership in investing in the whole economy evolution required by climate change.
“This investment and partnership with Octopus Energy, made through our Sustainable Energies Group, is a perfect example of how investors can work with leading tech-enabled energy companies to digitally disrupt the global energy system and support the evolution to a low carbon world.”
Greg Jackson, CEO and founder of Octopus Energy, said: “Octopus has pioneered the technology that allows citizens to benefit from cheaper energy as it gets greener. CPP Investments is a global force in energy investing, and their investment and partnership will enable us to build this truly innovative approach along the entire energy value chain.
“Innovating new ways to accelerate investment into the renewable energy revolution is vital to delivering governments’ net-zero goals and the CPP Investments-Octopus partnership is globally significant, paving the way to billions of dollars of investment in the UK and globally. Make no mistake – this partnership is huge.”
