Canadian pension investor ploughs USD 300m into Octopus

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) will make an initial equity investment of USD 300 million (EUR 265m) in UK’s Octopus Energy Group as part of a long-term strategic partnership between the entities announced today.

The tie-up will support growth of the Kraken platform, Octopus’s smart grid customer service technology which, the company says, automates much of the energy supply chain, contributing to the shift to decentralised and decarbonised energy. Kraken supports Octopus’ own retail, generation and flexibility businesses and has also been licensed to Origin Energy, E.On UK, Good Energy, Hanwha and EDF. It supports a total of 25 million accounts globally, with Octopus targeting 100 million accounts on Kraken by 2027.

Octopus said the deal with CPP Investments will also enhance its smart grid capabilities and increase its green energy generation. The latter includes adding 30 wind turbines to Octopus Energy Fan Club, a UK renewable energy tariff that provides communities close to specific wind turbines with cheaper power when it is windy.

“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,” said Deborah Orida, chief sustainability officer and senior managing director, global head of real assets at CPP Investments.

The partnership with the Canadian investor follows a USD-600-million investment in September from Generation Investment Management, co-founded and chaired by former US vice-president Al Gore. The new transaction increases Octopus Energy Group’s valuation to about USD 5 billion, the UK company said.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.884)

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