Abu Dhabi National Energy : TAQA and Octopus Energy Group’s Kraken team up to drive decarbonisation in the Middle East and Eurasia

TAQA and Octopus Energy Group's Kraken team up to drive decarbonisation in the Middle East and Eurasia

Dubai/London, 6th December 2023 - Next generation energy technology provider Kraken Technologies is teaming up with Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PSJC (TAQA), one of the largest listed integrated utilities in Europe, the Middle East and Africa to launch a pilot project to trial the Kraken platform with TAQA's power and water customers in the UAE. This program supports TAQA's focus on operational excellence, optimisation and digitalisation across the value chain to improve customer services as well as exemplifying a high-performing and efficient transmission and distribution business.

The companies are also exploring a joint venture (JV) to extend the partnership and Kraken's footprint to the Middle East, Europe and worldwide. As part of the proposed JV, the companies will look to establish a local innovation and development hub in Abu Dhabi, which will serve as a centre of excellence and innovation in the region. It will also build capabilities in the UAE upon implementation of the program locally.

Kraken Technologies is a part of Octopus Energy Group. Its technology platform, Kraken, connects all parts of the energy system, from customer billing to flexible management of renewable generation and energy devices. It is also revolutionising service delivery for other utilities such as water and broadband.

The Kraken platform empowers energy companies to build and deploy green energy products and to handle customer requests more swiftly and holistically.

TAQA recently announced its new growth targets for 2030. Amongst its refreshed targets, the company articulated plans to expand its Transmission and Distribution business internationally. The JV under discussion will also explore potential for joint investments in projects that could benefit from deployment of the Kraken technology.

The low carbon power and water champion is trialling the deep-tech Kraken platform after assessing its demonstrated benefits of low-cost, maximum efficiency and ability to enable a smarter, cleaner energy system.

Greg Jackson, Founder of Octopus Energy Group, comments: "At Octopus, we believe in the power of collaboration to turbocharge the energy revolution through innovation and technology. We're delighted to deepen our partnership with TAQA to help drive customer service excellence and cleaner energy faster in the UAE and around the world."

Jasim Husain Thabet, TAQA's Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, said: "We are pleased to partner with Octopus Energy on this pilot of its Kraken technology across our UAE operations. Through this pilot, we see a lot of opportunities to drive further digitalisation and operational excellence in our UAE operations and to collaborate with Octopus on a possible pathway for future expansion.

"Importantly, when successful, it will lead to establishing a regional innovation hub for this technology right here in Abu Dhabi, helping to build capabilities within the country and continue to drive excellence in the utilities industry. This advanced platform is an example of how we are investing in technologies that support the energy transition and enhance our operations."

Kraken has already been used by Octopus Energy to manage millions of customers across the UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and a large portion of mainland Europe and is licensed to energy, water and broadband utilities across the globe.

It manages over 6 GW of energy assets and is contracted to serve 52 million customer accounts globally, taking it closer to its 2027 target of 100 million accounts.

The platform has enabled Octopus Energy to top customer service tables since its inception, as the only energy company to receive "Which? Recommended status" 6 years in a row. The company and all of its subsidiary brands also benefit from 5* Trustpilot reviews in multiple countries.