Britain’s new Labour government has launched its flagship green energy infrastructure plan, announcing a multi-billion-pound partnership with the Crown Estate to develop offshore wind farms.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has established a publicly owned body called Great British Energy (GB Energy) to spearhead funding in domestic renewable energy projects.
“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”.
The government has allocated £8.3 billion of public money over the next five years to meet Britain’s climate change targets and reduce reliance on foreign imports of oil and gas. GB Energy will also seek to attract private investment, with the Crown Estate partnership aiming to leverage private investment of £60 billion.
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.
The government is introducing legislation to establish GB Energy into parliament, which is the bedrock of Labour’s pledge to make Britain a “clean energy superpower”.
Labour is committed to meeting the UK’s legal obligation of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and decarbonising Britain’s electricity grid by 2030.
However, the Conservatives’ energy spokeswoman Claire Coutinho called GB Energy “nothing but a gimmick that will end up costing families, not cutting bills”. Labour maintains that its net-zero energy plans will save households £300 a year on their bills.
