UK Government announces partnership between GB Energy and the Crown Estate
The UK Energy Secretary, Ed Miliband, has announced a partnership between the new state-owned entity GB Energy and the Crown Estate, which owns large areas of Britain’s offshore coastal waters where offshore wind farms are steadily being constructed.
The partnership was announced by Mr Miliband on Thursday and is aimed as a way in which to accelerate the construction of thousands of offshore wind turbines in UK waters. This in turn will help to increase UK energy security while also providing cheap renewable power.
Some questions are being asked about whether the ambitious target of a decarbonised power system by 2030 is actually feasible, partly due to the delays for connection to the grid by new wind and solar farms, and also whether GB Energy is the most effective way of achieving this. In some circumstances, new projects can take up to ten years before they start generating power, after winning their lease initially. However, legislation is already being drawn up to establish GB Energy, to be based in Scotland, which will be able to draw upon £8 billion of taxpayer money to get schemes up and running.
The private sector has invested heavily in UK offshore wind thus far, supported by government guarantees on the price for electricity, giving the country the largest offshore wind capacity outside of China.
The news was broadly welcomed by the private sector, but with concerns that other vital renewable energy technologies might take a back seat to offshore wind.
