26/07/2024
Insights
"Owned by the British people, for the British people"
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband have launched the much anticipated Great British Energy (GB Energy), paving the way for new sources of clean energy within Britain.
Not only standing to claim “energy independence” for the UK, but it is also believed that GB Energy will have the potential to leverage up to £60bn from private investors in doing so.
This was announced almost immediately after Miliband overturned the ban on onshore wind energy production and resumed the allowance to produce cheap solar energy. It is safe to say that our new Government is keen to change our Net Zero fortunes sooner rather than later.
One of the big objectives from the creation of GB Energy will be to allow easy conversion to electrification and eschew fossil fuel power, helping with our national decarbonisation efforts.
What is GB Energy?
GB Energy is a publicly owned energy company, that will invest in clean power projects across the UK.
Great British Energy has immediate objectives based within sustainability, but another aim is to free the British public of spiralling energy costs – due to several variables but almost all based in supply-and-demand metrics.
Headquartered in Scotland, GB Energy will also be used to increase new development and investment within Scotland, ensuring the benefits of this new venture are far-reaching.
With national energy production comes skilled job creation and lower bills for all. And as the ex-CEO of Siemens UK and current chair of Digital Catapult Juergen Maier has been appointed chair of GB Energy, we can rest easy that a tech-confident, forward-thinking person is leading the charge.
First things first
GB Energy’s first move is to join forces with the Crown Estate to utilise their £16bn portfolio of land and seabed to create new sites for energy production.
Next, the company will publish strategic policy that will shape and drive the way people can invest in and use the power.
These projects will hopefully contribute significantly to the Government's “clean energy by 2030” commitments.
Criticism
It wasn’t too long ago that the Labour Party were under fire for scaling back their Green Prosperity Plan, but they seem to have understood that scrapping GB Energy was a backtrack too far.
However, it is worth considering what this new industry could have looked like if the Government hadn’t bowed to climate scepticism.
The launch of the Great British Energy partnership is a crucial step towards securing our nation's energy independence and advancing our clean energy goals.
However, it’s essential that the benefits of this initiative trickle down to the people, ensuring that households and communities experience tangible improvements in energy affordability and sustainability.
This partnership holds great promise, but its success will depend on its ability to deliver real, widespread benefits across the country.
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