Tokyo Gas to invest $3.8 billion in Octopus Energy-led offshore wind fund

(Bloomberg) — Tokyo Gas Co. will invest in a €3.5 billion ($3.8 billion) offshore wind fund set up by U.K.-based Octopus Energy Group Ltd., the Japanese city gas provider said.

Tokyo Gas will invest €220 million in the fund, Octopus Energy Offshore Wind Fund SCSp, which has bought a 5% stake in a project in Netherlands. The Japanese company is a shareholder in Octopus Energy, which has grown to become one of the UK’s biggest utilities and plans to spend $20 billion on offshore wind by the end of the decade. 

That comes amid turmoil in the industry, which has been hit by rising material costs and interest rates that have hammered on projects. Contracts are being renegotiated or canceled in the US and Europe, while Japanese firms are exiting Taiwan.

Tokyo Gas and Octopus Energy have a Japanese retail venture. The Japanese utility also has a goal to acquire and trade 6 gigawatts of renewable power by 2030, it said in Friday’s statement.