New UK government – new offshore wind boost

The new administration has said it wants to set up a publicly funded company, GB Energy, to ‘help the country achieve energy independence and unlock investment in energy infrastructure’.

“A bill will be introduced to set up Great British Energy, a publicly owned clean power company headquartered in Scotland, which will help accelerate investment in renewable energy such as offshore wind,” King Charles said, adding that legislation would be brought forward to achieve energy goals.

The offshore shore wind sector will no doubt cheer the news, given that in last year’s auction round for clean energy, not one single bid for offshore wind was received.

This year’s auction has already been held and closed, but the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has so far refused to reveal whether it had received any bids this year, citing ’commercial sensitivity’. Results are expected in September.

“Setting up Great British Energy to mobilise investment into renewables and support engagement with local communities will also play an important role in helping us meet our deployment targets,” said Ana Musat, executive director of Policy with RenewableUK, formerly the British Wind Association, a trade association for wind, wave and tidal power industries.

“Ensuring this institution works well alongside the National Wealth Fund and other financial institutions will be essential to enable the private sector to mobilise the finance required to deliver the energy transition: in offshore wind alone, £100bn of private investment will be needed to deliver Labour’s target of 60 gigawatts by 2030.

“We look forward to working with the Government to ensure the mandate of GB Energy accelerates deployment of key technologies, including onshore wind, floating offshore wind and long-duration energy storage, guided by an industrial strategy and a strong partnership between business and government.”