Mitsubishi Corporation has bought a 20% stake in UK gas and electricity supplier OVO Energy.
The energy company will use the investment to expand into new markets across Europe and Asia Pacific and accelerate the development of its intelligent energy technologies unit Kaluza.
OVO Energy, which last year launched the world’s first domestic vehicle-to-grid charger for electric vehicles (EVs), currently supplies gas and electricity to more than 1.5 million customers across the UK.
Mitsubishi, headquartered in Japan, has around 6.2GW of energy assets under management worldwide, including renewables and batteries, roughly equivalent to the energy supply for 8.5 million households.
Stephen Fitzpatrick, Founder and CEO of OVO Energy said: “Transitioning away from fossil fuels is the biggest challenge we face in the 21st century. The costs of EVs, battery storage and wind and solar power have fallen dramatically in recent years but it’s becoming increasingly complex to integrate them onto the grid. To succeed, we will need to develop new technology and redesign the energy system around the customer.
“We want to be at the forefront of that global, tech-enabled transition to a zero carbon energy system. This investment from Mitsubishi Corporation will help us get there.”
