Britain’s new Labour administration unveiled its main green energy infrastructure plan on Tuesday, unveiling a multibillion-pound deal with the royal family’s commercial arm to create offshore wind farms.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer is forming a publicly owned body named Great British Energy to oversee funding for domestic renewable energy projects as the UK transitions away from fossil fuels.
“There is a massive prize within our reach, and make no mistake, the race is on to get there,” Starmer said of his commitment to safeguard Britain’s energy “independence”.
His government has set aside £8.3 billion ($10 billion) in public funds over the next five years to satisfy Britain’s climate change ambitions.
It also aims to lower energy prices by lowering dependency on foreign oil and gas imports.
GB Energy will also seek private investment, and the government announced a first partnership with the monarchy’s land and property holdings organization, with the goal of leveraging £60 billion of private investment.
The Crown Estate is an independently run corporation whose revenues go to the government, which then distributes a tiny amount to the monarchy to finance the royal family’s official tasks.
It is one of Europe’s largest property empires, holding extensive areas of British seabed with enormous financial potential for offshore wind power generation.
The Crown Estate anticipates that its GB Energy collaboration will lease enough offshore land to generate up to 30 gigawatts of fresh energy, enough to power over 20 million households, by 2030.
According to government figures, the UK now produces only 14 gigawatts of offshore wind energy.
‘Clean energy superpower’
On Thursday, the government introduced legislation that would establish GB Energy in parliament.
The corporation serves as the foundation for Labour’s ambition to make Britain a “clean energy superpower” prior to its resounding general election victory over the Conservatives on July 4.
Labour, in power for the first time since 2010, is determined to satisfy the UK’s legal requirement to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
It also intends to decarbonise Britain’s electrical grid by 2030, however experts say this ambitious goal will be impossible to achieve.
Starmer’s government has already lifted a prohibition on new onshore wind farms in England, enforced by the Conservatives in 2015.
The government is presenting a separate measure to expand the Crown Estate’s investment capabilities, allowing it to borrow more money for initiatives such as offshore wind projects.
It also proposes increasing investment in sustainable aviation fuel plants across the country.
The Crown Estate’s profit more than doubled last year to a record £1.1 billion, thanks to a short-term boost from offshore wind farms, according to annual accounts published on Wednesday.
According to the government, GB Energy would be responsible for five core functions, including project management and supply chain development. It won’t generate its own power.
It plans to invest in new technologies such as carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, wave and tidal energy.
The body’s public funding will come from windfall taxes levied on oil and gas companies.
British energy bills have risen since important producer Russia launched a full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022.
Labour insists that its net-zero energy plans will save homeowners £300 per year on electricity expenses.
However, Claire Coutinho, the Conservatives’ energy spokeswoman, described GB Energy as “nothing but a gimmick that will end up costing families, not cutting bills”.