Britain’s Labor Government, led by Keir Starmer, announced on Thursday that it will partner with the business that manages the heritage of the British Crown, the Crown Estate, to push the creation of a major state energy company, with an initial investment of 8.3 billion pounds (about 9.8 billion euros), reports the EFE agency.
The bill presented on Thursday includes an unprecedented agreement” between this new public energy body, Great British Energy and the Crown Estate,” the Government explained in a statement.
The Crown Estate has been managing, since the 18th century, the patrimonial assets of the Crown, including land, water bodies, where most of the offshore wind farms in the country are installed.
According to the press release, the agreement has the potential to mobilize up to 60 billion pounds (71.4 billion euros) in private investments to boost the energy transition in Great Britain, according to Agerpres.
The new public energy company is designed “by and for the British” and will be central to the Labor Government’s agenda to make Britain “a clean energy superpower” and will allow the Administration to invest in energy projects across regions of the country.
Among the responsibilities of the new Great British Energy are the development and investment in energy projects or the management of local energy plans in collaboration with the authorities and rural communities, as well as the generation of “supply chains” or the exploration of possible collaborations with nuclear energy.
“This innovative agreement between Great British Energy and the Crown Estate is an important step in terms of our goal of energy transition before 2030 and the reduction of electricity bills,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement.
He confirmed that the headquarters of the new state energy company will be in Scotland and that he has discussions with the Government and Crown Estate in this region to analyze how the new company could help development and investment in the area.
The announcement comes after the new energy secretary, Ed Miliband, “overrode his veto on onshore wind and unlocked affordable solar power generation” and is now “rolling up his sleeves” to boost the clean energy and economic growth they want benefit British taxpayers and communities.
“We Britons must benefit from our natural resources and investment in clean energy is the way to end energy insecurity in the UK,” Miliband said in the statement.