- UK seabed to support wind farms
- £8.3B public investment for renewables
- Lower bills expected, Conservatives skeptical
The Crown Estate’s British seabed will be utilized to assist in developing wind farms as part of the UK’s ambition to increase its energy independence.
It’s the first major statement from Great British Energy, Labour’s new publicly owned energy firm. The company aims to increase renewable energy projects, supported by £8.3 billion in public investment and a windfall tax on oil and gas companies.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband stated that the project would “lead to lower bills” for homeowners.
However, the Conservatives claimed that GB Energy was “nothing but a gimmick that will end up costing families.”
The agreement implies that the Crown Estate, which oversees an extensive property and land portfolio and helps fund the Royal Family, will lease the land on which wind farms can be developed and built.
The Crown Estate owns the vast part of the seabed, which extends up to 12 nautical miles from the shore.
Mr Miliband said that GB Energy will eventually lead to lower bills but cautioned that “it will not happen overnight.”
As renewable energy projects “come online, we’ll start to see an impact on bills.” “We are moving as quickly as we can.”
The government believes it can decrease the time it takes for wind farms to generate power in half. Offshore wind farms typically take 10 to 15 years to build.
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Labor hopes that GB Energy, a key manifesto pledge, will lessen the UK’s “over-reliance” on fossil fuel markets, where prices have risen sharply since Russia invaded Ukraine.
This accelerated the rate of general price increases, leading to the cost-of-living issue.
Mr Miliband said at a GB Energy launch event on Thursday that “a sprint for clean energy is a route to energy independence because dictators and petrostates don’t control it.”
He said it is “the best way to keep bills down for good.”
On the other hand, the Conservatives have stated that GB Energy “will end up costing families, not cutting bills.”
“It’s a financial black hole, funneling taxpayers’ money into reducing risk for multi-million-pound energy companies,” said shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho.
At a news conference later on Thursday, the prime minister was pressed on whether he supported Labour’s election campaign promise that GB Energy would reduce energy bills by £300 per household by 2030.
Sir Keir responded: “Yes, I do; I stand by everything in our manifesto, and one of the things I made clear in the election campaign is that I wouldn’t make a single promise or commitment that I didn’t think we could deliver in government.”
The government is sponsoring GB Energy with £8.3 billion but intends to attract £60 billion in private investment.
The goal is to have wind farm projects that generate 20GW and 30GW of offshore power under lease by 2030.
The Crown Estate had already set this as a goal, but the government affirmed on Thursday that it would assist.
Government officials claim that the Crown Estate’s involvement will speed up the building of fixed and floating offshore wind farms, while others argue that the main obstacles are the connections to the power grid.
The public investment is a fraction of the £28 billion per year that the Labour Party originally planned to spend on a green revolution that would decarbonize electricity generation by 2030, a target that most energy industry experts believe is impossible.
The deal only covers projects in England and Wales, but Labour is also in talks with the Scottish government and Crown Estate Scotland about funding for local initiatives.
Last year, the Northern Ireland Executive and the Crown Estate signed a statement of intent to establish leasing for offshore wind turbines.
Northern Ireland has no offshore wind farms, as several proposals were abandoned during the planning stage.
