London (AFP) – Britain's new Labour government launched its flagship green energy infrastructure plan on Tuesday, announcing a multi-billion-pound partnership with the business arm of the royal family to develop offshore wind farms.
Issued on: 25/07/2024 -
Prime Minister Keir Starmer is establishing a publicly owned body called Great British Energy to spearhead funding in domestic renewable energy projects as the UK weans itself off fossil fuels.
"There is a massive prize within our reach, and make no mistake the race is on to get there," Starmer said of his pledge to ensure Britain's energy "independence".
His government has allocated £8.3 billion ($10 billion) of public money over the next five years as Labour aims to meet Britain's climate change targets.
It also wants to bring down the price of energy by reducing reliance on foreign imports of oil and gas.
GB Energy will also seek to attract private investment, and the government announced a first tie-up with the monarchy's land and property holdings company that aims to leverage private investment of £60 billion.
The Crown Estate is an independently run business whose profits go to the government, which passes on a small portion to the monarchy to support official duties of the royal family.
It is one of Europe's biggest property empires, owning vast swathes of Britain's seabed with a huge commercial potential in developing offshore wind power generation.
The Crown Estate estimates that its GB Energy partnership will lease enough offshore land to produce up to 30 gigawatts of new energy, enough to power almost 20 million homes, by 2030.
The UK currently produces only 14 gigawatts of energy through offshore wind, according to government data.
'Clean energy superpower'
The government was introducing its legislation to establish GB Energy into parliament on Thursday.
The company is the bedrock of Labour's pledge made before its landslide general election victory against the Conservatives on July 4 to make Britain a "clean energy superpower".
Labour, in power for the first time since 2010, is committed to meeting the UK's legal obligation of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
It also wants to decarbonise Britain's electricity grid by 2030, although experts have said the ambitious target will be difficult to meet.
Starmer's government has already ended a ban on new onshore wind farms in England that the Conservatives imposed in 2015.
The government is introducing a separate bill to widen the investment powers of the Crown Estate, giving it more scope to borrow for investments including offshore wind projects.
It has also proposed boosting investment in sustainable aviation fuel plants across the country.
Profit from the Crown Estate more than doubled last year to a record £1.1 billion, driven by a short-term boost from offshore wind farms, according to annual accounts published on Wednesday.
The government says GB Energy will have five key functions, including leading projects and building supply chains. It will not produce its own power.
New technologies it will invest in include carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, wave and tidal energy.
The public financing of the body will be funded through windfall taxes levied on oil and gas companies.
British customers' energy bills have soared since key producer Russia launched a full-scaled invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022.
Labour maintains the party's net-zero energy plans will save households £300 a year on their bills.
But the Conservatives' energy spokeswoman Claire Coutinho called GB Energy "nothing but a gimmick that will end up costing families, not cutting bills".
© 2024 AFP
Great British Energy and Crown Estate target £60bn investment
A partnership between the newly formed Great British Energy and the Crown Estate is aiming to unlock up to £60bn of private capital.
Launched today (July 25) by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband with two new bills (The Great British Energy Bill and The Crown Estate Bill), the partnership will seek to ‘turbocharge energy independence’ through the expansion of renewables, predominantly offshore wind in seabed owned by the Crown Estate. According to the Estate, the partnership will help deliver 20-30GW of new offshore wind developments to seabed lease stage by 2030.
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“This innovative partnership between Great British Energy and the Crown Estate is an important step toward our mission for clean energy by 2030, and bringing down energy bills for good,” Sir Keir said in a statement. “This agreement will drive up to £60bn in investment into the sector, turbocharging our country toward energy security, the next generation of skilled jobs, and lowering bills for families and business.”
It's claimed the partnership will see the public sector take on the role of additional early development work for offshore wind projects, reducing risk for developers and enabling projects to build out faster after leasing. Other renewable technologies set to benefit include carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, wave and tidal energy.
“Investing in clean power is the route to end the UK’s energy insecurity, and Great British Energy will be essential in this mission,” said Miliband. “The agreement with The Crown Estate will lead to more investment, cleaner power, more energy security, and is a statement of intent that it will be a permanent and transformative institution for our country.”
Long touted by Labour in the run up to the election, Great British Energy has now been tasked with five key functions: project development; project investment; supporting local power plans; enhancing domestic energy supply chains; and working alongside Great British Nuclear.
Great British Energy will be backed by £8.3bn over the term of this parliament and is set to be headquartered in Scotland, where plans are in place to rapidly expand offshore wind. The Crown Estate is also currently running one of the world’s largest commercial-scale floating wind leasing programmes in the Celtic Sea, and it’s claimed the new partnership will also help support this.
Commenting on the government announcements, Craig Jones, vice president Energy Transition at GE Vernova, said: “It’s welcome news to see the further detail and draft legislation published today.
“To be a success, GB Energy needs to focus on a few key areas. It could make a real impact in cutting the time it takes to develop projects; speeding up delivery by being a co-investor in areas where the country needs to go faster, such as on offshore wind; and supporting close-to-market technologies like small modular nuclear reactors and carbon capture and storage. These technologies, delivered through existing viable projects which need the right government support, will all be vital to hitting the UK’s energy targets.”
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