“This new partnership … will unleash a tidal wave of public and private investment to drive the low-carbon transition, create good secure jobs and supply chains across Britain,” Starmer said at a wind turbine factory in the northwest of England.
Labour, in government for the first time in 14 years, is taking a more interventionist approach than the outgoing Conservatives in reaching the state’s climate targets and promoting economic growth. It hopes to reduce reliance on climate-threatening fossil fuels while promoting Britain’s energy independence — the value of which has been made stark by Russia’s war on Ukraine and its impact on international gas markets.
“We will be doing our duty to the planet and to the next generation,” Starmer said, while also “taking [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s boot off our throat once and for all.”
Britain is already a world leader in offshore wind, and royal-owned land has long been used for offshore wind farms. Further development could boost the state’s coffers — and the royal family’s, too.
Existing seabed leases have contributed to soaring profits for the Crown Estate. Much of the firm’s $1.4 billion profit last year came from offshore wind.
Great British Energy is the centerpiece of the government’s green policy. The Crown Estate, which is owned by the royal family but run independently, manages the royals’ sprawling property holdings. The portfolio, valued at some $20.6 billion, boasts some of the priciest properties in central London, including Regent Street.
Because it also owns a large part of the continental shelf around the United Kingdom, the Crown Estate is a “key partner” for the new state-owned firm, said Bob Ward, a specialist in climate policy and communications at the London School of Economics.
“The government set out this very ambitious plan, a massive acceleration of offshore and onshore wind,” he said. It has scrapped a ban on onshore wind. Ward expects the partnership with the Crown Estate to speed licensing, help with technical surveys and allow access to more of the seabed for offshore turbines.
The government said the effort has the potential to deliver up to 20 to 30 gigawatts of extra offshore wind seabed leases to the market by 2030.
Great British Energy, based in Scotland, is to be backed by $10.7 billion in public funding over the next five years. It will invest in wind power on land and at sea, carbon capture and nuclear power. The government is hoping that private investors can be persuaded to pour in another $77.3 billion in support.
Ward said the state contribution to Great British Energy was “not nearly enough to achieve the ambitious target of decarbonizing the power sector by 2030,” but it’s hoped it will “reassure the private-sector investors.” Before the election this year, when Labour was still in opposition, the party ditched a pledge to spend $36 billion a year on green projects.
Britain has developed offshore wind along the country’s east coast, where the relatively shallow waters of the North Sea make it easier to build turbines. But there remain opportunities elsewhere, said Stuart Dossett, a policy adviser at the London-based think tank Green Alliance. He cited the deeper Celtic Sea, where there is interest in launching floating turbines.
Profits from the Crown Estate go to the state treasury. Twelve percent then goes to the royal family as the “sovereign grant,” to pay for the operating costs of the royal household, including official travel and entertainment, property upkeep and staff salaries.