Crown Estate, GB Energy partnership eyes 30 GW of new offshore wind

Great British Energy, a newly formed state-run company, and the Crown Estate have teamed up in a bid to drive tens of billions in investments into clean energy, with the collaboration seen to facilitate the development of up to 30 GW of new offshore wind energy by 2030.

Great British Energy, which is part of the UK government’s plans for clean power by the end of the decade, and The Crown Estate have entered into an “unprecedented partnership” aimed at advancing the country’s push to becoming a clean energy superpower and attracting up to GBP 60 billion (USD 77.5bn/EUR 71.4bn) of private investment, a press statement said today.

Great British Energy, the bill for which is set to be introduced in parliament later on Thursday, will be backed with GBP 8.3 billion of government funding.  The company, to be headquartered in Scotland, will focus on five major activities, including project development and investment, collaboration on local energy generation initiatives, building supply chains across the county and considering potential cooperation with Great British Nuclear.

The Crown Estate, which has a GBP-16-billion portfolio of land and seabed, estimates this partnership will lead to up to 20-30 GW of new offshore wind developments reaching the seabed lease stage by 2030. These new capacities will be enough to power nearly 20 million homes annually, once connected to the local grid.

(GBP 1 = USD 1.292/EUR 1.191)

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