A renewable energy technology company has secured up to £35 million investment from a new Octopus Energy fund.
It gives the energy giant a 24% stake in Exagen, also based in London, which is developing solar and battery storage technology.
Exagen says the funding from the Octopus Energy Development Partnership includes the acquisition of three co-located solar and battery storage projects with an aggregate capacity of 400MW across the Midlands and the North East, where the former is opening a second office.
The transaction cements Exagen’s plans to rapidly scale and build its current development pipeline of over 2GW of utility scale generation and storage projects throughout the UK. Exagen plans to develop and operate 5GW of such projects over the next decade and expand internationally.
Exagen is led by renewable energy and biotechnology entrepreneur and investor Jeremy Littman, founder of Osprey Charging, the first electric vehicle rapid charging network operation in the UK.
“All of us at Exagen are thrilled by this ground-breaking deal with Octopus, which will support us in our mission to build smarter, flexible renewable generation projects across the grid, enabling communities access to cleaner, cheaper energy,” said Littman.
“We couldn’t have achieved this important milestone without the conviction of our team, each member a shareholder. Together, we bring decades of experience across renewable energy, power, banking, private equity, development, programme management and engineering.
“I believe our commitment to our staff, our technology-focused approach to operations, and above all our passion for local communities and the environment has aligned us with the Octopus team and we’re all looking forward to delivering on our promise together.”
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Exagen’s development team has secured land and grid connection for a 500MW/1GWh standalone mega-battery in the Midlands.
Expected to be operational in 2027, this site will be one of the largest battery storage sites in the UK with the capacity to provide the energy equivalent to 235,000 UK homes’ daily electricity usage.
It is expected to create long-term jobs and economic opportunities in the region.
Mark Rowcroft, development director at Exagen, said: “It does not have to be a choice between renewable energy, agriculture or biodiversity. With the right projects in the right places and considered land management, we can have it all.
“Solar farms can help diversify and stabilise farmers’ incomes and our approach of working closely with farmers means that we boost biodiversity beyond ‘just adding wildflowers’. We strive to create a symbiotic link between natural habitat and the built environment, leaving the land with increased biodiversity, improved soils, and enhanced amenity at the end of the project’s life.
“Exagen is also developing solutions to combine production of food and energy increasing local sustainability through community food systems and using waste heat to boost yields so that the issues of energy security and food security are not competing and can be solved together.”