The new British government launched its grand plan for green energy on Thursday. Its ambition: to make the United Kingdom a “world leader” through a new public company and a deal with the royal family to power millions of homes using offshore wind.
Barely three weeks after arriving at his official residence on Downing Street, Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer has kicked off this major campaign promise, which symbolises an interventionist approach to economic issues, and more proactive than the previous Conservative government on climate policies.
“I want to win the clean energy race: we have the potential, the ports, the workers, the talent, and now a government determined to seize its opportunities,” Keir Starmer said from Runcorn, an industrial town in northwest England.
A bill was tabled in Parliament on Thursday, with a view to a vote on September 5, to quickly bring to fruition the keystone of its strategy: the creation of a public investment company called Great British Energy (GB Energy).
With 8.3 billion pounds (14.8 billion Canadian dollars) of public money over five years, this company will be used to “invest in the technologies of the future: floating wind turbines, tidal energy, nuclear energy”, listed Starmer, with the aim of attracting private investment.
After fourteen years in opposition, “we are going to show that change has already begun,” insisted Keir Starmer.
He attacked the Conservatives’ record, which in recent years had abandoned some climate measures. For example, they had decided to grant new hydrocarbon production licenses and introduced a moratorium on the construction of onshore wind farms.
“We have lost a decade of opportunity to boost our energy security, lower bills and create skilled jobs,” Starmer said.
GB Energy “will work with the private sector to develop the clean energy we need, create skilled jobs […] and generate benefits for the taxpayer,” said Ed Miliband, Minister for Energy Security and Carbon Neutrality.
This public company should help to reduce energy bills and reduce dependence on oil and gas imports from “foreign dictators”, the Prime Minister argued.
Its funding will come from exceptional taxes levied on oil and gas companies.
Focus on offshore wind
Scotland, where tens of thousands of people work in energy, was chosen as the location for the public company’s headquarters.
This transition will be done in a “fair” manner, Ed Miliband wanted to reassure, in response to the fears of thousands of workers in the fossil fuel sector.
To launch the company, the new Labour executive announced an initial partnership between GB Energy and the Crown Estate, which manages the British monarchy’s vast land and maritime assets.
The Crown Estate’s portfolio includes a large portion of the UK’s seabed, meaning the company can grant permissions to build offshore wind farms.
The government hopes the highly symbolic deal will generate up to £60 billion (C$107 billion) of investment in the sector and create a broader push for green energy among industry.
According to the Crown Estate, some 20 to 30 gigawatts of additional offshore wind power could be created by 2030 through the partnership, enough to power the equivalent of around 20 million homes.
The UK currently produces 14 gigawatts of energy from offshore wind, according to official figures.
On Wednesday, a financial report showed that the Crown Estate’s profits more than doubled last year to a record £1.1 billion ($1.9 billion), thanks in part to the boom in offshore wind farms.
Upon coming to power, the Starmer government lifted a ban imposed by the Conservatives in 2015 on the construction of new onshore wind farms in England.