Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust (ORIT) has invested €7.5m ($8.8m) in Simply Blue Holdings Limited, the parent company of the Simply Blue Group (SBG), a developer of sustainable marine projects focused on floating offshore wind.
This is ORIT’s first investment in a renewable energy developer, as well as its first investment in the fast-growing offshore floating wind sector.
The investment, which is a co-investment alongside another fund managed by Octopus Renewable, entitles it to around 12% interest in SBG.
“This investment will further diversify ORIT’s potential to create capital growth and may in time bring opportunities to invest in construction-ready assets arising from SBG’s development pipeline,” Phil Austin, chairman of ORIT.
SBG has developed a pipeline of over 9 GW of floating offshore wind projects to date, primarily in the waters of the UK and Ireland. The Ireland-based SBG also has interests in wave energy and ancillary interests in sustainable aquaculture.
