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TotalEnergies, Octopus Energy announce U.S. clean energy investments

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Illustrated collage of the American flag, the EU stars, an oil drum and a wind turbine.

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

French power giant TotalEnergies and UK energy supplier Octopus Energy are each pursuing low-carbon energy deals in the U.S.

Why it matters: Lucrative federal incentives are spurring the biggest players in energy to accelerate their American clean-energy spending.

The latest: TotalEnergies and BlackRock-owned Vanguard Renewables unveiled a joint venture to develop U.S. renewable gas projects, as colleague Ben Geman wrote this morning in Generate.

  • The companies plan to start constructing 10 projects over the next year and may invest in dozens more. The technology converts food waste and dairy manure into gas.

Meanwhile, British renewable energy supplier Octopus Energy plans to invest $10 million to $30 million in Ocergy, an Oakland developer of foundations for floating offshore wind turbines, per WSJ.

  • Floating turbines are needed for wind farms off the U.S. West Coast, where the seabed is too deep for installing conventional offshore wind turbines.

Of note: Neither TotalEnergies nor Octopus is new to America. TotalEnergies has sizable businesses in renewables, oil, gas, and biofuels.

  • Octopus, one of the fastest-growing energy providers in Europe, entered the U.S. market in 2020 when it acquired Evolve Energy, a Houston- and Silicon Valley-based energy data provider.

💭 My thought bubble: These are exactly the kinds of deals that policymakers have been aiming for. And, crucially, they're aimed at U.S. startups building the physical assets needed for the energy transition — not merely software developers.

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