Exagen Group, a major player in the UK solar and energy storage sector, has received a full acquisition of UK energy titan Octopus Energy Generation.
The 100% share buyout, which was carried out on behalf of the Octopus Energy Development Partnership (OEDP) fund, managed by Octopus, follows an investment by Octopus in August 2022 in exchange for a 24% stake in the company.
Octopus Energy Generation will now fully own Exagen’s development pipeline, which consists of more than 2.4 GW of solar and battery energy storage systems (BESS) projects across England. These projects will add to Octopus Energy Generation’s massive portfolio, which consists of 3.7 GW of combined generation capacity across generation types and is valued at approximately £6.7 billion.
Jeremy Littman, CEO and Founder of Exagen Group, commented: “I founded Exagen to deliver and manage a robust pipeline of UK renewable energy projects with the mission to fight climate change. Now that I have built a talented team to rapidly advance this vision, I am proud to pass the baton to Octopus, who will continue to deliver projects and expand the platform to new heights.”
“Octopus’ initial investment laid the foundation for Exagen’s success. With this buyout, Octopus is now positioned to further advance our mission to achieve the UK’s renewable energy targets by 2035.”
Alex Brierley, co-head of Octopus Energy Generation’s fund management team, added: “We first invested in Exagen two years ago and we have been impressed by their strong pipeline of solar and storage projects in development serving the UK. will help increase energy security. By increasing our investment, we will boost the build-out of new green energy and rapidly grow the UK’s energy storage capacity.”
Exagen, Octopus and the BESS market
Exagen has been working to make its mark in the UK BESS sector and has secured planning permission for two key projects so far this year.
In April, Tewkesbury Borough Council granted planning permission for Exagen’s 20MW/40MWh Brockworth Road Energy Reserve project, which would be located in the Cheltenham and Gloucester green belt. In January, Exagen was given permission to develop one of the largest BESS projects in Britain, a 500MW/1GWh project in Leicestershire called the Normanton Energy Reserve BESS. Exagen has said they plan to put this project into service in 2029 and then operate it for 40 years.
Meanwhile, Octopus has also increased its presence in the BESS sector, having recently signed a two-year fixed price tolling agreement with Gresham House Energy Storage Fund. The wider energy industry has seen the impact of this ground-breaking deal, as Gresham House tells our sister publication Energy storage news that the agreement “made the broader market aware of the possibility that this could be an option […] it is not just for large suppliers.”
