UK Plans Wind Energy Expansion with New Government-Owned Energy Company

The U.K. government "will substantially increase offshore wind investment in the next five years," writes long-time Slashdot reader shilly - "in partnership with the Crown Estate (a public corporation that owns land including the coastal seabed on behalf of the monarch)."It will do this via its new state-owned energy generation [and investment] company, Great British Energy. The new approach includes ensuring grid connections are in place, and is in tandem with changes to the UK's planning regime that should reduce the ability of NIMBY groups to prevent infrastructure build-outs. Since [the Labour Party] came to power 20 days ago, the government has also approved three new solar farms and reversed a ban on onshore wind. Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a speech Thursday that "I don't just want to be in the race for clean energy; I want us to win the race for clean energy," according to an article by BNN Bloomberg:Thursday's announcement marks the first concrete step by the government to use Great British Energy in its quest for a zero-carbon electric grid by 2030. The collaboration with the Crown Estate, owners of the UK's seabed, means the public sector will get involved in projects earlier and may attract more private funding... Great British Energy is receiving 8.3 billion of taxpayer money to own and operate assets in collaboration with the private sector. The article points out that "By allowing borrowing, the government believes 20-30 gigawatts of new offshore wind seabed leases can be secured by 2030." As Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in his speech, "We've got the potential, we've got the ports, we've got the people, the skills."

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