The UK’s new Labor government is creating a publicly owned company to promote, develop and own clean energy projects, with an ambitious target for a zero-carbon electricity system by 2030.
Poised to tap private sector investment, Great British Energy announced a new partnership with the Crown Estate quasi-government organization that owns the seabed in England and Wales up to 12 miles offshore to use for the development of marine wind energy. The partnership alone will result in 20-30GW of new offshore wind projects reaching the seabed lease stage by 2030. The UK aims to have around 55GW of offshore wind domestically by then, compared to the current 15 GW, the government said.
Under this new partnership, the public sector will carry out initial work on projects to reduce risk for private sector partners and investors, according to the government. Great British Energy “will also help drive new technologies such as carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, wave and tidal energy”, said new energy secretary Ed Miliband. He said the new entity will have $10.7 billion to deploy through 2028.
“Great British Energy comes from a simple idea, that the British people should own and benefit from our natural resources,” Miliband said. “Investing in clean energy is the route to ending the UK’s energy insecurity, and Great British Energy will be essential in this mission.”
Advocacy group RenewableUK welcomed the government’s “high level of ambition” to deliver clean energy. “We also welcome any move by the Crown Estate to reduce the time it takes to build new projects.”
But the group is urging the government to work closely with the private sector, which will need to invest more than $130 billion to meet the government’s 2030 offshore wind target.
Achieving zero carbon energy by 2030 will face “substantial challenges, particularly with funding, supply chain issues, grid connections and port capacity”, warns industry analyst Cornwall Insight . Currently, solar and wind power will account for 44% of national power generation by 2030, according to the firm.
To meet the government’s target, offshore wind capacity would need to reach 50 GW, almost double current projections, he adds.
