Tokyo Century scores stakes in Octopus Energy Generation solar, onshore wind plants
Japanese financial services company Tokyo Century has today announced it will co-invest in operating solar and onshore wind power plants in the UK.
Through an agreement with asset management funds under Octopus Energy Group’s Octopus Energy Generation, Tokyo Century will take a 49% stake in the 67MW Breach solar plant in England and a 49% stake in the 46MW onshore Crossdykes wind power plant in Scotland.
The remaining interests are held by Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust plc (ORIT) and the Octopus Renewables Infrastructure SCSp (ORI SCSp), respectively.
ORIT acquired the Breach solar power plant in 2022, with the acquisition and development of the site costing around £50 million. The following year, in March 2023, it secured a 10-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with UK food retailer Iceland Foods, to provide 150 of its sites with an estimated 64GWh of solar energy.
Power generated at the solar site in Cambridgeshire is estimated to meet 14% of Iceland’s electricity needs at the relevant stores.
In April last year, ORIT secured a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Sky UK for the Crossdykes wind farm in Scotland, which ORIT acquired 51% of in 2022.
Both projects’ PPAs were a selling point in Tokyo Century taking stakes. The company said it regards Octopus Energy as an ‘optimal operations partner’ for its UK renewable energy business, part of its broader European expansion plan.
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In early 2024, Tokyo Century entered the UK solar PV market acting as co-investor with Schroders Greencoat in its the acquisition of 53 solar plants from Toucan Energy. The £700 million deal secured a combined capacity of 513.5MWp across sites in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Tokyo Century’s co-investment was in 34 plants out of the 53, with combined output of 303MW.
In November this year, it made its first UK onshore wind entry taking a stake in four power plants owned by UK infrastructure fund manager Equitix.
The company’s other projects are predominantly in Japan, and it has a stake in an Italian solar power project, too.