Octopus Energy's generation arm has announced a £200m investment into London-based tech disruptor Deep Green.
The investment aims to accelerate the scaling of Deep Green's groundbreaking technology across the UK.
Deep Green's innovative business model addresses the challenge of excess heat generated by data processing activities. Instead of letting this heat go to waste, Deep Green harnesses it to provide free heat for energy-intensive organisations such as leisure centres and swimming pools. By leveraging this technology, a public swimming pool in Devon was able to reduce its pool-heating bill by over 60%.
In return for providing free heat, Deep Green benefits from free cooling, giving it a competitive edge over traditional data centres. In this way, the company can offer energy-efficient computing solutions to businesses across the UK at more affordable rates.
Deep Green's data centers, installed on-site, do not require additional grid upgrades or planning permission, allowing them to be operational within weeks. The company's current customers include York University, and it has established partnerships with industry suppliers Civo and Alces Flight.
The investment from Octopus Energy comes from its dedicated Octopus Energy Transition Fund (OETF) and the Sky (ORI SCSp) fund it manages. Zoisa North-Bond, CEO of Octopus Energy Generation, emphasised the importance of innovative solutions like Deep Green in addressing energy challenges and driving towards a cleaner, cheaper energy future.
She said: 'To tackle the energy crisis head-on, we need innovative solutions to unusual problems. By using excess heat from data centres to slash energy bills for communities across the UK, Deep Green solves two problems with one solution. We’re looking forward to rapidly rolling this out and positively impacting even more people as we drive towards a cleaner, cheaper energy future.'
Mark Bjornsgaard, founder and CEO of Deep Green added: 'We are thrilled with Octopus’s commitment to support our next phase of growth. Placing data centres within the fabric of society transforms the waste heat they produce into a valuable resource that benefits communities.
'The data centre sector is rightly facing scrutiny about its growing energy demand and associated carbon emissions. Our data centres are highly energy efficient and support local communities with free heat.'
Octopus Energy Transition Fund (OETF) was launched in 2023 to scale companies in fast-growing sectors focused on decarbonising society, including heating, storage, low carbon transport and more.
www.octopusenergygeneration.com
