Octopus Energy to expand renewables development in Spain and enter Portugal

LONDON (Reuters) - Octopus Energy's generation arm said on Thursday it is investing in Spanish-headquartered renewables developer FF New Energy Ventures (FFNEV) to expand activities in Spain and enter the Portuguese market for the first time.

The investment also aims to accelerate expansion into Latin America in the future, the firm said. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

Spanish-headquartered FFNEV has over 2 gigawatts (GW) of renewable projects in its pipeline and is also participating in floating offshore wind development, targeting 5 GW of capacity.

With funding from Octopus, FFNEX aims to have 1.6 GW in new solar and storage sites in Spain and Portugal by 2030, which could power nearly 1 million homes.

Octopus said Spain is one of Europe's most active solar markets, with 15 GW of solar capacity, and potential for more as it plans to increase renewable electricity generation to 74% by 2030.

Portugal has 2 GW of solar power and plans to generate 80% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2026 to replace gas-fired generation.

(Reporting by Nina Chestney; editing by Jason Neely)