Opinion: Team GB Energy going for green gold

Making Great Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030 is one of the government’s five missions with the following key priorities:

• leading projects through development stages to speed up their delivery, whilst capturing more value for the British public
• investing in energy projects alongside the private sector, helping get them off the ground
• supporting local energy generation projects through working with local authorities, combined authorities, and communities
• building supply chains across the UK, boosting energy independence, and creating jobs
• 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.

The government also announced plans to join forces with the Crown Estate in England and Wales to speed up the development of new offshore wind activities, reduce risk for developers and to simplify the overall process. Played right, it could open the window for new wind licenses to be offered with the current barriers of planning and grid access significantly reduced. Discussions are ongoing with the Scottish Government and Crown Estate Scotland to do something similar as well.

With the UK government’s ‘Olympic’ ambition to double onshore wind, triple solar and quadruple offshore wind capacity by 2030, delivery will require a true ‘Team GB Energy’ spirit, focus and commitment.  Generating this new clean energy will also require an overhaul of the UK’s electricity grid, planning rules, consenting provisions, energy storage facilities, system management and the introduction of new price mechanisms for electricity. If the UK can successfully navigate this heptathlon of energy challenges, it will indeed be able to deliver a green power revolution in the coming decade.

Through the efforts of GB Energy and underpinned by new policy and regulation, the government is also targeting to reduce by half the time it takes to get offshore wind projects developed and providing clean and green power to homes across the country. In Olympic language, this is equivalent to improving our nation’s Personal Best (PB) by 50% in time for the Brisbane Olympics in 2032.

Great British Energy has the potential to unleash the UK as an Olympic energy champion, enabling the nation to go for green gold in the race to net zero. A big prize indeed.

By Professor Paul de Leeuw, Director of RGU's Energy Transition Institute. This thought leadership was first published in Energy Voice on Friday 26 July 2024.