UK-based Octopus Energy has made an investment in Ocergy, a US-based floating offshore wind technology company, to accelerate and reduce the costs of designing and manufacturing floating foundations.
Ocergy, which is headquartered in the US and has operations in France, is already working with over a dozen major developers across multiple gigawatts of projects, with their first foundations to be installed by 2025/26. It is also pioneering a hyper-local supply chain approach.
Octopus’ undisclosed investment will help commercialise Ocergy’s tech and rapidly expand it into new markets. The investment is made on behalf of Vector, Octopus Energy’s offshore wind fund launched at the end of last year. According to the UK firm, the fund is looking to unleash billions into the global offshore wind sector.
“It marks the latest milestone in the company’s plans to turbocharge the rollout of offshore wind globally to reduce fossil fuel reliance and boost energy security,” Octopus Energy explained.
Floating foundations are used in areas with coastlines that are too deep for foundations that are fixed to the seabed. Around 80% of global offshore wind resources are located in deep waters and the UK alone is targeting 5 GW of floating offshore wind capacity by 2030.
Ocergy’s lighter and modular designs make the turbine foundations easy to transport and assemble at their final destination.
“Ocergy’s approach has the power to slash the costs of floating offshore wind – and with our investment they will get there faster, paving the way for cleaner, greener energy systems across the globe,” said Zoisa North-Bond, CEO of Octopus Energy Generation.
