PRESS RELEASE : New Great British Energy partnership launched to turbocharge energy independence [July 2024]

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 25 July 2024.

The Prime Minister and Energy Secretary today announced a new unprecedented partnership between Great British Energy and The Crown Estate, which has the potential to leverage up to £60 billion of private investment into the UK’s drive for energy independence.

Great British Energy will be at the heart of the government’s mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower. The company will be owned by the British people, for the British people, backed with £8.3 billion of new money over this Parliament to own and invest in clean power projects in regions across the UK.

It comes soon after the Energy Secretary has scrapped the ban on onshore wind and unblocked the production of cheap solar energy. Today’s announcement is yet more evidence of the Energy Secretary rolling up his sleeves to deliver clean energy and kickstart economic growth, so British bill payers and communities reap the benefits of clean, secure, home-grown energy.

Great British Energy’s first major partnership will be between two national institutions for the benefit of the British people. The Crown Estate, which has a £16 billion portfolio of land and seabed, operates independently and returns its profits to the government, brings long-established expertise to the partnership, and new investment and borrowing powers recently announced by government. Great British Energy will bring the critical strategic industrial policy that the state can provide, as well as its own ability to invest.

The Crown Estate estimates this partnership will lead to up to 20-30GW of new offshore wind developments reaching seabed lease stage by 2030, enough power for the equivalent of almost 20 million homes.

The partnership will boost Britain’s energy independence by investing in homegrown power, and with accompanying reforms to policy, cut the time it takes to get offshore wind projects operating and delivering power to homes by up to half.

This partnership will see the public sector taking on a new role undertaking additional early development work for offshore wind projects. This will ensure that future offshore wind development has lower risk for developers, enabling projects to build out faster after leasing and crowding in private sector investment. It will also help boost new technologies such as carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, wave and tidal energy.

It comes as the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has published details of the company’s objective. Families across the country have suffered during the cost-of-living crisis, as the UK’s over-reliance on fossil fuel markets was exploited by Putin. Great British Energy is part of the government’s plans for clean power by 2030, so families and businesses are never left vulnerable again to spiking global prices.

The Prime Minister has confirmed that Great British Energy will be headquartered in Scotland and will back energy generation projects in the UK, bringing profits back to the British people. The UK Government is in discussions with the Scottish Government and Crown Estate Scotland on how Great British Energy could help to support new development and investment within Scotland.

The government is already legislating to give both Great British Energy and The Crown Estate the powers they need to rapidly deliver, with two Bills being introduced in Parliament today.

Today the Energy Secretary also confirmed that leading captain of industry Juergen Maier, former CEO of Siemens UK, will be the Chair of Great British Energy, driving forward this new company.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:

My government is laser focused on delivering change, to make people better off.

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.

This agreement will drive up to £60 billion in investment into the sector, turbocharging our country toward energy security, the next generation of skilled jobs, and lowering bills for families and business.

My mission led government is rolling up our sleeves to deliver for Britain.

Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband said:

Great British Energy comes from a simple idea – that the British people should own and benefit from our natural resources. Investing in clean power is the route to end the UK’s energy insecurity, and Great British Energy will be essential in this mission.

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.

Chief Executive of the Crown Estate Dan Labbad said:

The Crown Estate exists to serve the national interest, including stewarding our natural resources to deliver a decarbonised, energy secure and sustainable future.

With new powers and by partnering with government, we can drive greater investment into this future for our country, and with it support nature recovery and job creation.

Juergen Maier CBE, Chair of Great British Energy said:

Great British Energy will be a publicly-owned national clean energy champion, ensuring British people reap the benefits of clean, secure, home-grown energy.

I’m excited to lead this company and work with the private sector and communities to rapidly expand skilled jobs and investment across the country.

Great British Energy will have five key functions

• Project development – leading projects through development stages to speed up their delivery, whilst capturing more value for the British public
• Project investment – investing in energy projects alongside the private sector, helping get them off the ground
• Local Power Plan – supporting local energy generation projects through working with local authorities, combined authorities and communities
• Supply chains – building supply chains across the UK, boosting energy independence and creating jobs
• Great British Nuclear – exploring how Great British Energy and Great British Nuclear will work together, including considering how Great British Nuclear functions will fit with Great British Energy

The Crown Estate has already helped the UK to become a global leader in the offshore wind sector, and is currently running one of the world’s largest commercial scale floating wind leasing programmes in the Celtic sea. This partnership will accelerate that leadership even further.

The Great British Energy Bill, which is being introduced in the House of Commons today, will support the creation of the new publicly owned company by setting out its objectives and ensuring it has access to necessary finances. The Secretary of State will also have the ability to set Great British Energy’s strategic priorities to ensure it remains focussed on the government’s aim to accelerate the delivery of homegrown clean energy power in the UK.

The Crown Estate Bill will modernise The Crown Estate by removing outdated restrictions on its activities so it can, for example, invest in digital technologies that will further enhance its award-winning spatial mapping of the seabed. The Bill will also expand The Crown Estate’s investment powers and grant borrowing capabilities, unlocking significant investment in public infrastructure. This includes essential marine investment to help support the acceleration and growth of offshore wind capacity by 2030 alongside supporting the regeneration of urban centres, such as its most recent example of a new Life Science partnership in central Oxford and nature recovery across its portfolio. These reforms will secure the continued future success of the Crown Estate business and maximise the returns it generates for the public.

The announcements follow the government’s rapid action to set up a new Mission Control at the heart of government to deliver clean power by 2030, headed up by former Climate Change Committee chief executive Chris Stark.