UK Parliament Passes Great British Energy Bill, Paving Way for GBP 300 Million Investment in Offshore Wind Supply Chain

British Parliament has passed legislation for the new publicly-owned energy company, Great British Energy (GB Energy), which will invest in clean power projects across the UK as part of the government’s Plan for Change.

GB Energy will make available GBP 8.3 billion (approximately EUR 9.9 billion) in funding for supply chains over the course of this parliament to speed up the delivery of strategic energy projects and invest alongside the private sector to get new technologies like floating offshore wind up and running as part of the government’s Industrial Strategy, according to the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).

GBP 300 million (approximately EUR 350 million) will be invested in domestic offshore wind supply chains.

“This will support Britain’s engineers, technicians, and welders and invest in offshore wind manufacturing components such as floating offshore platforms and cables in the UK’s industrial heartlands”, DESNZ said on 15 May.

“As part of the government’s modern Industrial Strategy, which will turbocharge growth in the UK’s key sectors including clean energy, this investment is part of the Prime Minister’s drive to ensure that the clean energy future is ‘built in Britain’.”

The UK government introduced the bill to establish Great British Energy in July 2024 and revealed a partnership between the new company and The Crown Estate, which is estimated to lead to as much as 20-30 GW in new offshore wind seabed leases by 2030.

In April this year, the government announced the GBP 300 million funding for domestic offshore wind supply chains through Great British Energy.

The public investment complements the GBP 43 billion of private investment pledged for clean energy projects since July 2024, according to the government.

In 2024, DSNEZ said the legislation establishing GB Energy would cement the five key functions the state-owned company will have: project development, project investment, local power plans, building supply chains, and exploring how Great British Nuclear (a state-owned nuclear energy and fuels company) and Great British Energy will work together.

The Great British Energy Bill also includes the Secretary of State having the ability to set Great British Energy’s strategic priorities to ensure it remains focused on the government’s aim to speed up the delivery of homegrown clean energy power in the UK. 

Following the passing of the bill by the Parliament, DSNEZ said the Energy Secretary is set to outline Great British Energy’s strategic priorities, including which technologies the government expects the company to focus on and how it should consider the public benefits from investment decisions.