Great British Energy will partner with the Crown Estate to build up to 20-30GW of new offshore wind developments, the Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced.

The Great British Energy Bill was announced last week in the King’s Speech to enable the creation of the new publicly-owned energy company that will oversee the government’s push to further expand the UK’s carbon-free energy programme.

The company will be backed by £8.3bn of new investment over the next parliament, with a goal to leverage a further £60bn in private investment.

The Crown Estate, which ostensibly belongs to the monarchy, already has a £16bn portfolio of land and seabed. While it operates independently, all profits generated are returned to the Treasury. It estimates that the new partnership will lead to the creation of 20-30GW of new offshore wind developments that will reach seabed lease stage by 2030. This is approximately enough power for the equivalent of almost 20 million homes.

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