08 Aug Great British Energy Explained
One of the key pledges from the new UK Government was the launch of Great British Energy (GB Energy). Throughout this Parliament, the new government plans to invest over £8 billion of funding into this new, publicly owned green energy business.
As part of the broader energy goals, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband appointed climate and energy leader Chris Stark to manage the new Mission Control Centre. Combined with GB Energy, the partnership will accelerate the UK Government’s target of delivering clean energy by 2030.
How will GB Energy work?
There are five core functions GB Energy intends to achieve:
-Deliver clean energy projects via its partnership with the Crown Estate
-Invest in and own renewable energy projects
-Incentivise low energy through the Local Power Plan
-Support the development of clean energy supply chains nationwide
-Help deliver clean energy supply chains in the UK
-Collaborate with Great British Nuclear to create new nuclear projects
GB Energy won’t supply electricity to households. Still, it will work alongside the private sector to invest in new energy technologies, to make them more competitive with mature systems, such as green hydrogen, floating offshore and tidal power.
The government also plans to scale investment in mature technologies like onshore wind, solar and nuclear energy. GB Energy will also work with local authorities and community energy businesses to strengthen small and medium renewable energy projects in solar, wind and hydroelectricity.
Who will own GB Energy?
The government manifesto explains that GB Energy will be a publicly owned business, and will be ‘operationally independent’ within an independent board. Great British Energy will develop, own and operate all renewable energy assets. Specific projects will be owned and managed by local councils and community groups. The HQ will be in Scotland, but all regions of the UK will benefit.
The benefits of GB Energy
According to recent publications, GB Energy intends to reduce energy bills for all households by an average of £300 annually. The other benefits include increasing energy security by lowering the UK’s reliance on fossil fuels from nations like Norway, Qatar, Russia and the United States. GB Energy aims to deliver green energy by 2030 by prioritising the increased use of renewable energy. Other announcements include creating 650,000 new jobs nationwide.
GB Energy and the Regional Power Plans
The latest election manifesto highlighted working with local representatives and devolved governments to enable local power generation. The intention is to reduce the pressure on the grid and ensure local communities benefit from the energy produced in their areas. This plan involves supporting community energy groups with the necessary commercial, technical and project planning requirements.
The Government’s Local Power Plan will see GB Energy team up with local communities to promote renewable energy projects. This is forecasted to create up to 8GW of energy, securing £3.3 billion over the next parliament stage. The new government has stated that some profits from local energy projects will be funnelled back into the community. A good example of this is the Fintry Development Trust in Scotland. Some of the wind farms are community-owned so some profits will be directed back to the people. Last year, this profit was £1,000 in grants to install energy efficiency upgrades in properties.
How will GB Energy be funded?
GB Energy represents part of the Government’s Green Prosperity Plan, which will receive funding from two sources:
Higher windfall tax on oil and gas businesses (totalling £1.2 billion over the next Parliament) and secondly, through responsible borrowing initiatives.
The collaboration between GB Energy and the Crown Estate
GB Energy has partnered with the Crown Estate to support the UK government reach its goal of delivering clean energy by 2030. The Crown Estate manages a portfolio of land seabed, valued in the region of £16 billion. All profits from this portfolio are returned to the UK Government. Forecasts suggest the partnership could provide up to 20-30 GW of new offshore wind farms by 2030, equating to enough power for nearly 20 million homes.
By working with the Crown Estate, the UK Government hopes to secure more than £60 billion of private investment to support the shift towards clean energy. The partnership hopes to scale offshore wind projects by significantly reducing the time to get them operational.
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