Great British Energy and Crown Estate target £60bn investment  

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. 

“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.”