Keir Starmer has barely unpacked his boxes at 10 Downing Street when he is already unveiling major projects on the climate front. The new British Prime Minister announced a major plan for green energy on Thursday, July 25. His ambition? To make the United Kingdom a “world leader” in renewable energy.
“I want to win the clean energy race: we have the potential, the ports, the workers, the talent, and now a government determined to seize its opportunities,” said the leader of the Labor government, on the sidelines of a trip to the northwest of England, where he confirmed that a bill had indeed been submitted to Parliament, for a vote scheduled for September 5.
A British “EDF”
A text whose keystone lies in the creation of a public investment company, spearheading the energy transition across the Channel. And even before its official birth, its name has already been found: Great British Energy (GB Energy). A sort of English EDF, notes the British daily The Guardianwhich will be fully dedicated to the development of renewable energies.
This entity “will own, manage and operate clean energy projects,” explains the site Internet from the British government, which provides for a five-year allocation of some 8.3 billion pounds – or nearly 10 billion euros. A sum that should allow GB Energy to invest in a range of cutting-edge technologies: “floating wind turbines, tidal energy, carbon capture, or even nuclear”, Keir Starmer indicated.
Partnership with the Crown Estate
But in line with the plan to power around 20 million homes with sustainable energy within five years, GB Energy will initially focus on offshore wind. A maritime infrastructure project made possible by the partnership with the Crown Estate (Domaine de la Couronne in French, Editor’s note), the institution responsible for managing the real estate and land portfolio of the Royal Family, which includes a large part of the British seabed.
With this agreement, the executive hopes to generate up to 60 billion pounds – or 71.5 billion euros – of investment in the sector and to generate new momentum among industrialists in favour of green energy. Because if GB Energy is to be partly financed by the revenues of the tax on fossil fuels, Keir Starmer also hopes to attract private investment.
Job creation, energy independence…
GB Energy “will work with the private sector to develop the clean energy we need, […] and generate benefits for the taxpayer,” explained Ed Miliband, Minister for Energy Security and Carbon Neutrality. Because the government also aims to reduce household energy bills and create several hundred thousand jobs.
In total, “650,000 across the country by 2030”, according to the government’s official website. This, only by “harnessing the power of green energy”, promised Keir Starmer, who took the opportunity to castigate the record of his predecessors and fourteen years of Conservative executives.
Result: “We have lost a decade of opportunities to boost our energy security,” sneers the tenant of 10 Downing Street. Thus, GB Energy also aims to reduce dependence on imports, from those that Keir Starmer calls “foreign dictators”.