Great British Energy (GBE) has launched its first strategic plan which sets out its mission, aims, and plan of action for the next five years, under the slogan ‘Clean, Secure, Yours.’ It will be a publicly owned company that ‘unlocks private capital’ rather than replacing it. GBE will be an energy developer, investing and owning at least 15GW of clean energy infrastructure by 2030. It will initially invest more into mature technologies (majority ownership in established technologies that can bring return on investment), while investing more strategically in nascent technologies to de-risk them for the private sector.
GBE will have 3 main priority areas:
- GBE Local – which will focus on local energy and community ownership
- Onshore energy – unlocking public land and investing in the grid and flexibility
- Offshore energy – focusing on Scotland and Celtic Sea and unlocking deeper water wind energy potential
Throughout, there is a clear focus on supply chains and bringing back manufacturing into Britain, aligning with the UK govt’s Industrial Strategy, and speaking directly to the commonly held critique of the energy transition as an expensive process of buying technology produced abroad. This will be the role of GBE’s £1bn ‘Energy, Engineered in the UK’ program, designed to unlock industrial opportunities in the transition by delivering manufacturing grants, investment, and market interventions.
So far, GBE’s advisory board is made up of three committees: Trade Union Advisory Committee (advises on skills, jobs, just transition), Aberdeen Taskforce (place-based advice), Stakeholder Advisory Committee (experts, trade bodies, academics).
GBE Local (p.20-25 of the strategy document) opens up opportunities for our sector. The plan recognises the unique value of community energy to the transition, siting lower bills, democratic ownership, and increased public consent. It also acknowledges the three main challenges to community energy, which ring true with our experiences:
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Communities’ lack of access to technical, legal and commercial capability (hello capacity building)
- Lack of route to market, PPA challenges
- Lack of access to finance, which is recognised as a result of the first two challenges making it more difficult to raise early-stage finance
GBE state that they are committed to overcoming these challenges, but their plan of action is yet to be clarified, which will become clearer through the Local Power Plan (to be published early to mid 2026). The Local Power Plan will be developed jointly by GBE and DESNZ – their respective roles will be for the DESNZ to unblock policy and regulatory barriers while GBE will support local govt, communities, and the public sector to address capacity and finance barriers.
Alongside developing the Local Power Plan, GBE Local will develop ‘GBE Local Energy Platform’ which will support any community organisation looking to develop onsite energy generation. It will support them via aggregation, access to an accredited delivery partner network, and by developing business models. The details of how this Local Energy Platform will work remain to be seen.
GBE Local will soon be establishing a network of strategic partners and delivery partners that will help execute its plan and help it further deliver local economic impact. For now, phase 1 of GBE Local will focus on building relationships, expertise, and pilot agreements with local authorities.
The plan did not mention the value of investment in GBE Local, which is likely to come with the Local Power Plan instead.
Read the full plan here – GBE Strategic Plan 2025
Written by Asmaa Elsouda