A new partnership between Great British Energy and The Crown Estate has been announced with the view that it has the potential to leverage up to £60 billion of private investment into the UK’s drive for energy independence.

As we know, at the heart of the government’s mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower is its Great British Energy¹ entity.

This company, states the government, 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. 

The Crown Estate, which has a £16 billion portfolio of land and seabed, operates independently, returns its profits to the government, and brings its long-established expertise to the partnership. 

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

The partnership will, says the government, 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.  

According to the government, this partnership will see the public sector taking on a new role in undertaking additional early development work for offshore wind projects. This will ensure that future offshore wind development has a 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.   

The Crown Estate has already helped the UK to become a 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 government is already legislating to give both Great British Energy and The Crown Estate the powers they need to rapidly deliver, with two Bills²  – the Great British Energy and the Crown Estate Bills – having been introduced in Parliament. 

The Prime Minister has also 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. 

Energy UK’s chief executive, Emma Pinchbeck in response to the Government announcement on GB Energy said: “GB Energy can play a vital role in making the Government’s clean energy ambitions a reality by attracting extra private sector investment, speeding up the delivery of projects and further supporting developers by having the necessary supply chain in place.  

“It can also step in to kickstart the development of newer technologies and support community projects while larger and established sources like wind and solar continue to grow.

“The expansion of clean, secure, homegrown energy and the economic growth this will bring can deliver huge benefits to the whole population.

“However, the best way to make sure that the public benefits from GB Energy and that the economy grows, is to complement – rather than duplicate – the investment, expertise and experience of the private sector, whose track record of delivery has made the UK a world leader in offshore clean energy.

 “Success depends on private investment being crowded in rather than crowded out – and industry is looking forward to working in partnership with government to make sure this happens.”

1. GB Energy’s functions

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 

2. New bills

  • The Great British Energy Bill, 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.