The initial £300 million investment will generate thousands of domestic jobs, mobilise additional private investment, and secure manufacturing facilities for critical clean energy supply chains, such as those serving floating and fixed-bottom offshore wind platforms. The Prime Minister, along with Energy Secretary Ed Davey, will announce the investment plans at the Future of Energy Security Summit, a major international summit bringing together governments and industry from around the world to drive collective energy security.
Job creation resulting from the investment will be supported through the Plan for Change, benefitting workers and businesses in the UK industrial heartland. The investment will also help to de-risk clean energy projects. It complements the £43 billion of private investment that has been pledged for clean energy projects since last July.
The funding has been fast-tracked ahead of the Comprehensive Spending Review, and builds on government investment in domestic supply chains through initiatives such as the Clean Industry Bonus and the National Wealth Fund. The new investment in domestic offshore wind is part of the Prime Minister’s drive to ensure that the clean energy future is ‘built in Britain’. It will ensure that the nation builds resilient domestic supply chains for components which are essential to delivering clean power by 2030.
A new era of global insecurity means that the government will have to go further and faster to reshape the economy, through the Plan for Change, the Prime Minister said, and this will require a new muscular industrial policy that enables British industry to forge ahead.
“Delivering the Plan for Change means winning the race for the clean energy jobs of the future, which will drive growth and help us reach clean power by 2030” added the Prime Minister. “That is why I am bringing forward much-needed investment in our domestic offshore wind supply chains, strengthening our security and creating good jobs for our welders, electricians, and engineers. Let my message to the world go out: come and build the clean energy future in Britain.”
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said that it is only by taking back control of our energy that we can protect families and businesses from the rollercoaster of global markets we don’t control.
“That is why this government is doubling down on our clean energy superpower mission - driving economic growth, good jobs and investment across our country” added Mr Miliband.
The Prime Minister, ministers and business leaders will gather in London today (24th April) for the 2-day summit on the Future of Energy Security – hosted by the UK government and International Energy Agency – as countries take action to protect themselves from future energy shocks. Leaders from around the world, including the President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen, will come together to address the global challenges and opportunities of speeding up the clean energy transition.
The Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, the Minister for Investment Baroness Poppy Gustafsson, National Wealth Fund CEO John Flint and Great British Energy Chair Juergen Maier will today write to global clean energy developers and investors inviting them to invest here in Britain. It follows the government announcing a series of pro-growth measures including major reforms to speed up grid connections and overhaul planning rules.
“Great British Energy will help the UK win the global race for clean energy jobs and growth by investing in homegrown supply chains and ensuring key infrastructure parts are made here in Britain” said Dan McGrail, interim CEO of Great British Energy. “We will work closely with businesses across the clean energy sector to get funding out as fast as possible and get projects off the ground.”
“The government’s decision to bring forward £300 million for offshore wind is a positive step, but it also highlights a critical gap” added Jon Hiscock, CEO of UK-headquartered voltage control experts Fundamentals. “We urgently need a more coordinated Industrial Strategy that includes the supply chain for electrical equipment. You can’t deliver clean power, energy security, or economic growth without the infrastructure that enables it. The electricity networks industry must not be seen as just as a utility, but as a cornerstone of Britain’s energy future. Our grid is aging, constrained, and wasn’t built for the complexity or capacity of low-carbon technologies. To meet the UK’s 2030 clean power targets, including integrating this new offshore wind energy, we need to unlock 225 GW of grid capacity. But that transformation won’t happen by accident. Without targeted investment and policy alignment in grid infrastructure and the wider electrical supply chain, the UK’s clean energy ambition risks hitting a hard limit.”
Great British Energy’s supply chain fund is expected to be open for applications by the end of the year, with an initial £300 million available for offshore wind schemes over this Parliament. Further details on criteria and eligibility will be published in due course.
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