London-headquartered Octopus Energy has announced it would invest £1.5 billion (~$1.8 billion) in the Asia Pacific (APAC) energy market by 2027 to accelerate the transition to clean energy.

The company said it planned to invest £1.2 billion (~$1.4 billion) into solar and wind generation. Half the funds will be invested in renewable energy projects across Japan.

Octopus will scale its presence in Asia with a commitment of £300 million (~$370 million) to expand its tech innovation and retail energy hub in Tokyo using its tech platform Kraken.

The investment comes as Japan works to shift towards a clean energy future, propelled by the recent G7 ministers’ agreement to speed up clean energy development, collectively pledging to increase offshore wind capacity by 150 GW by 2030 and solar capacity to over 1 TW.

The investment in the tech hub builds on the company’s successful partnership with Japan-based energy giant Tokyo Gas, which saw the two companies launch a joint venture in 2021.

Octopus Energy Group Founder Greg Jackson said, “Our partnership with Tokyo Gas has grown ever stronger, and I’m delighted to be bringing even more investment to Japan and into the UK. Linking our businesses in Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore to the UK and Europe, our operations in Japan have helped create a unique global technology ecosystem benefiting everyone.”

The generation team of Octopus plans to leverage this strategic partnership to raise £400 million (~$494 million) from investors in APAC until 2028 to build more wind and solar farms in the UK while bringing crucial energy expertise to Europe and strengthening supply chains.

British Ambassador to Japan Julia Longbottom said, “Japan’s renewable energy market is ripe for investment. The launch of our newly-forged UK-Japan renewable energy partnership marks a significant milestone in our bilateral collaboration, one that could set the stage for a boom in renewable energy projects in Japan.”

Last December, Octopus Energy announced it acquired solar developer Zestec Renewable Energy, which is developing a pipeline of more than 160 MW of solar projects on corporate rooftops in the UK.

Earlier this month, provider of sustainable energy solutions Xlinks announced the closing of its new development funding round, raising £30 million (~$37.7 million) from Octopus Energy and the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company to build a subsea power interconnector.