What does Great British Energy Mean for Sustainability?

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UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer
The King’s Speech at the UK’s State Opening of Parliament confirms the new government’s plans to prioritise clean energy & establish Great British Energy

The UK has seen an incredible pivotal period in politics recently, with the general election seeing the public vote the Labour party into government after 14 years of the Conservative party in power.

The State Opening of Parliament saw King Charles deliver a speech outlining the new Labour government’s plans and priorities.

Throughout the campaigning period, attitudes to energy seemed to divide the parties with some proposing to fight for net zero by 2040, and others proposing to cut renewable energy investment and prioritise gas and oil.

King Charles at the State Opening of Parliament

King Charles’ speech

While sitting among many other important policies and commitments – including 40 new laws – climate change was listed as a priority. 

“My government recognises the urgency of the global climate challenges,” King Charles said in his speech.

The speech went on to acknowledge the importance of “technology of the future”, a topic that had already been touched on with the introduction of a bill to regulate AI and large language models in the UK. 

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He said that the newly established government is “committed to a clean energy transition,” specifically looking to accelerate investment in renewable energy such as offshore wind. 

The incoming government states that it is working towards “achieving energy independence” and believes that investment in renewable energy will support the lowering of energy prices for consumers who have seen harsh rises in recent years. It aims to “unlock investment in energy infrastructure.

Other than offshore wind, the only specific energy mention was sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) – tying into the promise to renationalise the railways.

As always, the commitments have been met with mixed opinions. The Green Party, a left-leaning party that believes in prioritising sustainability and clean energy, said: “We're seeing some moves in a positive direction – but in terms of climate action, the Labour government needs to be bolder and better.

“Investment in renewable energy is the way that the country needs to go.”

Great British Energy

A central pillar of the new government’s sustainability strategy is to establish a new, nationalised energy company – Great British Energy.

The company will be headquartered in Scotland and be founded on an £8.3m (US$10.8m) injection to injects in clean energy in partnership with the private sector.

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The Labour party said: “Great British Energy will be owned by the British people, built by the British people and benefit the British people. It will be headquartered in Scotland, invest in clean energy across our country, and make the UK a world leader in floating offshore wind, nuclear power, and hydrogen.”

Great British Energy will have three initial priorities: 

  • Co-investing in new technologies: The focus on new technologies include floating offshore wind, tidal power and hydrogen
  • Scale and accelerate mature technologies: Wind, solar and nuclear are the priorities here, as Great British Energy plans to “partner with existing private sector firms to speed up deployment of mature renewable technologies to meet our ambitious clean power timelines. It will also build organisational capability and expertise to deliver energy megaprojects like nuclear power stations, reducing project and construction risk”
  • Scale up municipal and community energy: The company aims to cut energy costs for local communities through a decentralised energy system, with more local generation and ownership. Labour says “Great British Energy will partner with energy companies, local authorities and cooperatives to develop 8GWs small-scale and medium-scale community energy projects”

What do leading execs think?

The establishment of Great British Energy is exciting for the UK but is also important for sustainability leaders to consider. Sustainability executives from companies including LG Business Solutions, American Express, AVEVA, Anthesis, Rovco, Turner & Townsend and Carbon Clean share their insights.

Vishavjeet Sodhi, Head of Air Solutions at LG Business Solutions said: 

“Expanding investment in new and renewable domestic energy sources is a step in the right direction for sustainability. And it offers an opportunity for the UK to take more control of its energy generation whilst powering growth opportunities.  

“However, careful attention also needs to be paid to how energy is consumed. Currently, 40% of UK emissions come from households. Alongside expanding renewable energy sources, there needs to be a concentrated effort to encourage the uptake of high-efficiency electric appliances like heat pumps and energy recovery ventilators to lower energy consumption and achieve carbon neutrality.” 

“Meeting net zero targets by 2050 will be a serious challenge. But by bringing all parts of the energy management system together - from production and storage to usage and conservation – the UK can tackle climate change more effectively.”

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Martin Ferguson, Vice President of Public Affairs for American Express Global Business Travel said:

"The King’s recognition of SAF's importance to decarbonisation, energy independence and economic growth underscores the urgency for government to scale it at speed. The corporate travel sector has been driving demand and investment in SAF and stands ready to help the new government develop a world-leading SAF market in the UK."

Martin Ferguson, Vice President of public affairs for American Express Global Business Travel

Iju Raj, Executive Director of R&D at AVEVA, one of the UK’s largest software companies, said:

“AVEVA welcomes the creation of Great British Energy, which we hope will accelerate delivery of green power projects, alongside the lifting of the onshore wind ban.

“Working with customers throughout the UK and beyond, we have seen how digital technology, including the use of AI, can increase the efficiency of green power and with these planning reforms there is an opportunity to create the data centres and research hubs necessary to increase this capability.”

Iju Raj, Executive Director of R&D, AVEVA

Helen Lamprell OBE, Chief Legal and Transformation Officer at AVEVA said:

“Building an internationally competitive economy requires investment in both energy and digital infrastructure.  The measures announced today to set up Great British Energy and to reform the planning system are important signals of serious intent to achieve this.”

Helen Lamprell OBE, the Chief Legal and Transformation Officer, AVEVA

Stuart McLachlan, CEO and Founder of the world's largest pure-play sustainability firm, Anthesis, said:

“While the government’s focus, outlined in today’s King’s speech, on key climate issues like renewable energy, net zero, and energy security is commendable, we urgently need a government that elevates nature and biodiversity to the forefront of its green agenda.

“The traditional relegation of nature and biodiversity below other climate change issues, such as renewables, is a damaging misreading of the situation we are in. Protecting our natural world is not just an environmental imperative, it is an economic one. Recent projections suggest a failure to protect our environment could lead to a 12% reduction in the UK’s GDP as early as 2030. 

“In February next year, as part of the Paris Agreement, the UK will submit its new climate plan detailing how it plans to cut emissions up to 2035. I hope to see in that document strengthened commitments from the government to nature-based solutions for climate change mitigation and adaptation.”

Stuart McLachlan, CEO and Founder of Anthesis

Brian Allen, CEO and Founder of high-tech wind solutions company, Rovco, said:

“Labour’s focus, outlined in today’s King’s Speech, on energy security and renewables is commendable. I was particularly pleased to hear the King nod to accelerated investment in the offshore wind industry through the creation of Great British Energy. 

"It is also reassuring to hear that Labour recognises the urgency of global climate challenge and the new job opportunities that will come from leading the development of the technologies of the future. 

"As the industry continues to grow so quickly, if we don’t have the workforce we need, it will be simply impossible to reach or even come near the capacity objective of 60GW of offshore wind. The offshore wind industry is already short of around 70,000 workers needed by 2030 – and this is before factoring in Labour’s revised increased capacity target. This isn’t an easy gap to fill, but with the intelligent implementation of AI and automation alongside the offshore wind workforce, we can get there.

"Long-term success in any AI strategy will be determined by how well the workforce is upskilled in areas like data science, machine learning, and advanced analytics. Scaling the offshore wind industry must be framed as a tech issue and a tech priority. It will be crucial that Labour supports – through apprenticeships and SME investment – the tech skills that will be the future of the offshore wind workforce."

Brian Allen, CEO and Founder, Rovco

Aniruddha Sharma, Chair and CEO of Carbon Clean, one of the biggest carbon capture companies in the UK, says:

"The King's Speech sets out a high-growth, low-carbon agenda. This level of ambition is exactly what's needed to turbocharge the economy and create thousands of clean tech jobs.

“The Industrial Strategy could be a catalyst for a UK-wide industrial renaissance in low-carbon manufacturing, provided the right support is in place for specific sectors, including carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS).

“The National Wealth Fund is a particularly important vehicle for attracting inward investment. Its structure sets it up for success, with flexibility in both the type of financial products available and the breadth of qualifying sectors. Drawn-out, formal competitions for pre-allocated pots of money have deterred investment and I welcome the move away from this model.

“A strong desire to partner with business to boost UK competitiveness and accelerate net zero progress has resonated throughout the new Government’s first weeks in office. Long may this continue.”

Aniruddha Sharma, Chair and CEO of Carbon Clean

Alan Sinclair, Head of Energy and Natural Resources, UK at Turner & Townsend, said:

"Charting the UK’s transition to clean, secure, energy relies on confidence and consistency in policy.  The industry will be cheered as much as by what isn’t changing in this King’s Speech as what is.

"Accelerating investment in renewable energy, such as new nuclear, solar and offshore wind, through the establishment of Great British Energy will be welcomed as a potential catalyst for the sector. 

"However, the challenge will be to integrate this fresh thinking with the longstanding planning that has already taken place.  We urgently need to move from policy development to the practicalities of execution: securing supply chains, building skills and agreeing long-term pricing contracts with investors. The greatest risk is that in re-strategising, we introduce delay and waste time that we do not have to meet rapidly approaching deadlines for decarbonisation."

Alan Sinclair, Head of Energy and Natural Resources, UK at Turner & Townsend

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