Would-be prime minister Sir Keir Starmer unveiled this morning his proposals for setting up a public energy development company, to be branded Great British Energy and headquartered in Scotland.

GBE would not generate energy itself, but instead be a nationalised developer, initially enabling offshore wind and solar, followed later by technologies such as batteries and floating wind.  It would use home-grown renewables power to safeguard domestic supplies, while reducing the nation’s dependency on volatile, often dictatorial overseas suppliers of damaging hydrocarbon energy,

Labour’s GBE plans represent a big retreat from the party’s notion last year of investing £28Billion every year of a new Parliament in green measures.  Starmer scaled back the ambitions, agreeing with shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves, pictured, that Britain’s public finances could now not bear such a burden.

GBE is positioned as a catalyst for private investment, with every pound of public cash stimulating three times as much from private and commercial backers.

The Conservatives last year granted over 100 new exploration permits for offshore extraction of climate-wrecking fossil fuels.  Today Starmer said Labour would honour them, but would issue no new ones.

Speaking on BBC radio, Sir Keir said oil and gas would be part of the UK’s “energy mix for decades to come” and Labour was “not planning to turn the pipes off instantaneously”.

“Labour’s ambition to get building new clean energy projects within months is hugely welcome” said Sam Richards, founder and campaign director of infrastructure lobbyists Britain Remade.

“But they won’t be able to get spades in the ground as quickly as they need to – unlocking the benefits of cheap power and lower bills – unless they tackle head-on Britain’s outdated planning system”, Richards cautioned.

“There is a list of projects currently sat in the Department ( of energy ) that on day one Labour can and should give the green light to; they should be signed-off as soon as new ministers get behind their desks”.

“Beyond that they should move as quickly as possible to reform consultations, streamline environmental impact assessments, and amend the habitats regulations to dramatically speed up the planning system for clean energy.”

Brian Allen, boss of Rovco, a high-tech company serving the offshore wind industry, observed; “Whichever government comes into power must have a very clear plan for supporting the offshore wind industry with the infrastructure, talent, and capital investment it needs.

“Otherwise, the renewables gap risks becoming a chasm. The UK’s current operational capacity in offshore wind is around 14GW, so we have just under 6 years to reach our target of 50GW by 2030″.

Training skilled workers remained a problem”, the Rovco boss went on. “The Offshore Wind Industry Council suggests an additional 70,000 workers were needed, many of whom could be found from  the oil and gas sector”.

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RenewableUK, the Offshore Wind Industry Council, the Crown Estate and Crown Estate Scotland say their Industrial Growth Plan plots a course to mark out the UK as a leader in offshore wind’s global growth.

The UK’s offshore wind industry already employs 32,000 people, the plan calculates. Each new big offshore turbine park can add £3bn to the economy.

Employment is set to rise to over 100,000 by 2030. Ten years further on, investment in new marine spinners will create an wealth of over £90bn for the nation, says the report.

Steps set out in the group’s plan would support an additional 10,000 jobs a year and boost Britain’s GDP by £25 billion more between now and 2035, if the nation can accelerate yearly offshore deployment to 6GW, in line with our net zero targets.

The UK, the researchers note, already boasts the world’s second biggest national pipeline of offshore wind projects at all stages of development. At nearly 100GW, that stands at more than six times the nation’s capacity now generating.

Choke points already noticeable in making, equipping and deploying maritime spinners could yet scupper those targets, though.  The Plan identifies strategic new factories and manufacturing capabilities needed to head off the threat.

Key technology areas enabling  uninterrupted investment include manufacture of wind blades and turbine towers, foundations, cables and other key components and services for projects, both in UK waters and for export.

Invoking new AI technologies, the document sets out plans to expand testing facilities for cutting-edge technology, such as new materials  for blades and floating collars.  Under the aegis of Britain’s Catapult technology stimulators, a new national innovation hub for the sector should be created, incorporating a new advanced technology institute.

Almost £3 billion of new funding must be directed at turbine enablement, says the report. With private finance doing the heavy lifting, a return to the economy of just under £9 for every £1 invested is possible.

Many of Britain’s competitors have introduced new incentives to attract investment in offshore wind projects and domestic manufacturing, hoping to replicate home success.

RenewableUK boss Dan McGrail said: “Our plan is the deepest dive ever into offshore wind’s supply chain, identifying the highest-value components and services which the UK should focus on to get the biggest economic bang for our buck from future wind farm development.

“For example, it shows that the UK will need three hundred giant turbine towers every year for offshore wind projects between now and 2030 to deliver government targets. The plan charts a clear course for us to ensure that we seize that massive economic opportunity”.

Energy secretary Claire Coutinho added: “Plans set out by industry today will work with our £1 billion Green Industries Growth Accelerator to make sure the UK can build out the supply chain – including the turbine blades and high-voltage cables that we will need to produce cheaper, cleaner, more secure energy.”

Read the industrial growth plan here.

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Sir Kier Starmer & shadow energy secretary Ed Milliband also pledged the party to cancel last year’s grant by the Conservative government of new oil and gas exploration permits in the North Sea.

Touring energy sites in north Wales with newly elected first minister Vaughan Gething, the opposition figures today extolled the speed and flexibility of floating wind farms.

Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats are committed to 2030 – five years earlier than the Conservatives – as their deadline for stripping fossil fuel generation out of UK electricity. Wind’s growing share they see as essential.

“Britain is a proven leader already in offshore wind”, shadow Welsh secretary Jo Stevens said told the BBC this morning. “Our experience of floating turbines in the Celtic Sea only underlines the technology’s huge potential”.

Labour echoes the Sunak government’s commitment to 50GW of marine wind generating by 2030.  5GW more is earmarked to come from floating structures.

Last July the Crown Estate advertised the world’s largest floating turbine opportunity, 4GW across concessions in the Celtic Sea.

Though only the Hywind & Kincardine projects – amounting to less than 1GW – are Britain’s only floating farms now generating, a massive 35 GW more of floating turbines stand at all stages of development, across 49 projects.

From conventional seabed-based structures, Britain’s operating offshore capacity is around 15GW. Another 14GW is under construction or having reached the final investment hurdle.

Against the government’s 50GW goal, that means only six years remain to bring another 21GW of offshore wind into operation.

Milliband confirmed that Labour’s investment in floating turbines would be part of the £7 Billion a year it promised to Great British Energy, its nationalised green generator.   A Labour government would double public investment in onshore wind and in home insulation, and treble that for solar deployment, he said.

Labour policymakers believe that, so great is developer interest in floating turbines, every pound committed from the public purse will attract three more from private investors.

RenewableUK, lobbyists for British wind investors, welcomed Labour’s backing for the innovative spinners.

Head of offshore policy Jane Cooper said: “Developing floating wind at scale offers opportunities for us to build a far greater number of offshore wind farms in deeper, windier waters, off the coast of South Wales and the south west of England, providing vast amounts of home-blown clean power.

“We’re delighted that Keir Starmer, Vaughan Gething and the Labour team are so committed to developing floating wind, “Cooper went on.

“They recognise the huge economic opportunity this innovative technology offers for the south west of England and Wales, particularly if we can develop ports like Milford Haven and Port Talbot to ensure they’re large enough to house new manufacturing and assembly facilities for turbines as tall as The Shard and platforms the size of football pitches”.

“There is currently a huge decision on the desk of government when it comes to floating offshore wind,” the spokesperson added.

“The UK could unlock investment in the Erebus wind farm this year, a world-leading project off the coast of Pembrokeshire, in addition to two other projects off the coasts of Scotland the north east of England, through its upcoming clean power auction this summer. However, the budget set out for that auction is too low, putting progress at risk, so we’re calling on Government to revise this at the earliest opportunity.”

Meanwhile specialist consultancy Newton assessed that Britain will need 6.1 million tonnes of steel this decade to meet the 50GW offshore goal.  With plants including Port Talbot likely to reduce production at least temporarily, the nation would struggle to meet the goal, said the researchers.

“To ensure we’re not blown off track, it is imperative that UK industry and government collaborate to ensure a steady supply of steel that can meet the predicted demand peaks as industry flexes to meet the 50GW target”, said Newton’s Dan Parker.

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The National Grid-ESO’s plans, costed in its ‘Beyond 2030’ manifesto at £58 Billion over the coming decade, are the biggest transformation of country-spanning transmission & distribution grids since they first emerged in the 1950s.

Carrying new wind-generated power from marine farms concentrated off the east coast to urban centres of heaviest demand requires delivering an ‘electrical spine’, running from landing points in Aberdeenshire down to demand hot spots in England’s North West, the report outlines.

Three quarters of the new grid investment will be made at sea, the document discloses. Three new subsea links to North Sea wind farms, including Hornsea 3, the world’s largest at 2.9GW, will be built, the operator intends.

But new pylons and transformers onshore threatening rural views look likeliest to spur resistance from objectors.

Heavyweight grid upgrades & extensions are seen as essential if the UK is to bring online the 50GW of offshore wind capacity the government is targeting by 2030, en route to delivering on its goal of a fully decarbonised grid by 2035.

The projected £58 billion tag is a quantum leap beyond the £9 billion the National Grid currently budgets now in its Great Grid Upgrade. That programme is tasked to remove existing transmission bottlenecks over the next two years.

The ESO needs to take ‘swift, co-ordinated & lasting action” if Britain is to meet its longer term decarbonisation goals, the body’s executive director Fintan Slye told the Sunday Times at the weekend.

Accommodating new capacity from offshore wind, interconnectors, and nuclear power will all generate more electricity than the networks are currently able to transport, the National Grid said.

Regional imbalances dot the nation’s infrastructure. Scotland, famously ‘the Saudi Arabia of wind power’, generates at present around 15GW, but uses no more than 5GW even on winter’s coldest days.

Endorsing the plans, a National Grid statement hailed them as recognising the need for networks to be delivered at pace, “unlocking a more affordable and resilient decarbonised electricity system in the UK”.

“We now look forward to working with the System Operator, with government and with Ofgem on the further development needed to progress these reinforcements”, a Grid spokesperson added, “and to move towards creating a Strategic Spatial Energy Plan, coupled with a consentable Centralised Strategic Network Plan.

“That will sets out what energy infrastructure needs to be built, where and when, to deliver a capacity-rich, future-ready network that will serve society and underpin economic growth,” the Grid’s statement noted.

The plans will now receive comment from industry stakeholders and Ofgem.  Network operators and generators will develop work up through recommendations further through a Detailed Network Design Phase.

The process involves testing alternative on- and offshore answers, further developing cable routing and technology choices.

Industry stakeholders welcomed the ESO’s intentions. ​​​​From analysts Cornwall Insight, Tom Faulkner commented: “The ESO lays out the essential grid investments required to keep pace with the escalating electricity demand

“The 2035 forecasts for wind and solar capacity outlined in the report are notably ambitious compared to Cornwall’s current estimates”, Faulkner went on. “Achieving these targets will demand substantial investment, not only in grid infrastructure but also in the renewable generation assets themselves.

From pro-growth campaigners Britain Remade, founder Sam Richards observed: “If Britain wants an abundant supply of secure domestic energy that cannot be used as an economic weapon by autocratic regimes, then we need to continue to invest in offshore wind and the critical infrastructure needed to move the energy around the country.

“Investing in clean energy is not just good for the environment, it’s good for the economy. From Aberdeen to Teesside and Ramsgate the offshore wind industry has already created tens of thousands of well-paid jobs with even more to come”.

Reforms to ‘Britain’s glacial planning system’ were essential though to slash delays in permitting offshore wind farms built”, Richards added

“It’s mind boggling that it can take up to 13 years to build an offshore wind farm despite construction of the actual turbines only taking two years”.

Read NG-ESO’s ‘Beyond 2030’ in full here.

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The deal sees Octopus’ Sky fund (ORI SCSp) take a 50% stake of Lintas Green Energy, an Oldenburg-based experienced and fast-growing green energy developer to accelerate their growth across the country.

The investment will help build new wind and solar farms, targeting 1 GW by 2030 – enough clean energy to power 370,000 German homes.

Lintas has already built green energy projects in areas like Lower Saxony. The state last year covered 100% of its electricity demand from its own renewable generation for the first time.

The developer currently has more than 20 green energy projects in its fast-growing pipeline across several more states, including Hesse, Bavaria and Saxony-Anhalt.

Octopus’ funding will enable it to expand further and form energy supply deals to help energy-intensive businesses decarbonise their operations.

The news comes as Octopus ramps up its renewables activity in Germany, with plans to channel more than €1 billion into the country’s clean energy infrastructure by 2027.

Octopus entered Germany’s renewables market in June 2022 and has rapidly accelerated its projects. This is Octopus’ 8th investment in the market and follows hot on the heels of its acquisition of Schiebsdorf solar farm, the largest solar farm in its portfolio.

Octopus is also partnering with major German corporations to help them cut emissions. Just last month it struck a deal with one of the country’s largest steel producers, Salzgitter Group, to supply it with solar energy for the production of green steel.

Alex Brierley, co-head of Octopus Energy Generation’s fund management business, said: “Germany has been a leader of the global ‘Energiewende’ since the 80s. We’re proud to be able to help the country speed up this transition by backing green projects and developers that are driving a cleaner, cheaper future.

“This latest deal with Lintas Green Energy is our 8th renewables deal in Germany and our first investment in a company creating new green power – and it won’t be our last.”

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Rotherham based Suiso plans to create generators the size of shipping containers that ccan be placed on site to power factories, hospitals, and warehouses or at filling stations to fuel hydrogen-powered vehicles.

Producing hydrogen where it is needed eliminates the high costs involved in distribution from a large, centralised plant, which has been one of the key barriers to adoption.  It also allows businesses that want to decarbonise their operation to start much sooner than waiting for large-scale hydrogen plants to be built.

Suiso’s process produces low-cost, low-carbon or zero-carbon energy. It uses a novel microwave technology to extract hydrogen from natural gas or biogas, while capturing the carbon in the form of carbon black, a valuable byproduct that can be used to make tyres, batteries and inks.

As existing methods of carbon black production create high levels of emissions, Suiso’s technology can help decarbonise these industries too.

A study by the former Department of Business, Energy & Industry Strategy (BEIS) confirmed that, for many key applications, Suiso’s technology is lower cost and produces lower emissions than existing production methods such as grid-powered electrolysis, and 97% lower than steam methane reforming, making it one of the greenest forms of hydrogen available.  It also uses 80% less electrical energy than electrolysis, therefore putting less stress on the grid network.

Suiso was founded by engineer and financier Stuart McKnight and serial entrepreneur Dr SB Cha, whose father invented Suiso’s microwave technology. The company was one of the winners of the BEIS Low Carbon H₂ Supply scheme in 2023.

The latest investment will enable it to scale up its technology and begin a pilot project. Ultimately it aims to produce generators that can produce 1,000 kg of hydrogen a day – equivalent to 1.6 MW of energy and enough to fuel 50 20-tonne trucks. The company, which currently employs five staff, expects to create seven new jobs in the next six months.

CEO Stuart McKnight said: “Hydrogen is rapidly emerging as a sustainable way to decarbonise the economy, but cost, availability and other practical issues have held back its use.

Our technology offers a way to overcome these and provide clean, low-cost power on site. For some organisations, Suiso’s on site hydrogen generation may be the only realistic ‘green’ option – for example, energy-intensive industrial applications such as large boilers or furnaces, heavy lifting gear or HGV and truck refuelling. This investment will help us move to the next stage on our journey to bring it to market.”

Ashwin Kumaraswamy, Investment Director with Mercia Ventures, added: “Suiso has found a way to decarbonise natural and biogas to produce ‘greener’ hydrogen than many current methods of production including grid powered electrolysis, and a zero-emission form of carbon black which is a valuable product in itself. This technology could make hydrogen a viable option for many businesses and drive rapid uptake. With growing global demand for clean energy, we are confident that Suiso will have many opportunities ahead.”

Keira Shepperson from British Business Bank said: “Suiso’s dedication to the use of greener and cleaner energy showcases it as a future-focused business, committed to helping the country meet its net-zero targets.  As it continues to prosper, we look forward to supporting it in its growth journey. The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund remains dedicated to investing in innovative businesses, and particularly those striving towards a greener future.”

The current NPIF investment phase has now completed with the British Business Bank launching the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II in March 2024.

The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.

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Ninety volunteer-led energy schemes are among the 200 and more projects whose backers have used Ethex as a fund-raising source to promote environmental change. Alongside solar cooperatives in Bristol and Wales, the platform’s energy ventures include:

• Solar for Schools, which raised £6.1 million to work with schools and communities to provide decarbonisation and energy education by means of PV installations across the UK.
• Low Carbon Hub, which raised £9.6 million for a range of pioneering green energy hubs in Oxforshire, from community solar to electric transport
• Energy Garden, which raised over £1 million for community solar and green spaces in London

Having directed £120 million of small backers’ and trust money to projects, now the platform led by Lisa Ashford MBE pictured, aims to raise another £200 million by 2029.

Timed for its birthday, the social investment fund launches a new survey showing that two-thirds (67%) of UK investors and savers want to see their money being used to positively impact the planet and society. But 56% told the platform’s researchers that they’re unsure where it actually goes.

Conducted by OnePoll, the survey reveals that the younger people are, the more likely they are to want money to do good. Almost four-fifths of under 24s, or 79%, stated this goal was important for them.

CEO Lisa Ashford was awarded the MBE in 2023 for services to impact investment

She said: “If you care about creating a better future for all, what you choose to do with your money is just as important as recycling, saving energy or supporting charities. It’s encouraging that our survey shows such a high level of awareness of the importance of investing for a positive impact, especially among younger people. But it also shows that there isn’t nearly enough transparency from the financial sector about how they use the money people trust them with. Savers and investors rightly need to know exactly what their money is being used for.”

Since its launch, the non-profit outfit has built a registered investor base of more than 25,000 people.

The survey is being published in tandem with Ethex’s 10-year Impact Report as the company  celebrates 10 years of making ethical investments accessible to all.

It faces challenges. Awareness of the ethical investment alternatives remains low, at only 39% – although younger people are more savvy, with 63% of 18 – 34 year olds in particular keen to invest in companies or projects tackling climate change.

CEO Ashford explained: “As the cost of living continues to rise and climate change is an even bigger threat, our mission at Ethex is more relevant than ever.

Lisa Ashford added: “We believe that our money is the most powerful transformational force for environmental and social change. Over the last decade, we have seen the power of people’s pounds in action. We have connected thousands of ordinary people with extraordinary projects, making it easy for them to use their money to support organisations taking real steps to accelerate climate action, build stronger communities and reduce poverty.”

“We plan to become bigger and bolder and get many more people involved to create a huge collective impact – reaching an ambitious £200 million deployed to do good in the next 5 years”

More details here.

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The acquiree was formerly a sister company of Hydrock Consultants, TRIG told investors today. Its record in storage ventures swells TRIG’s pipeline of late-stage battery projects.

Fig Power has nine grid-scale projects in advanced development, totalling 400MW among its complete portfolio of 1.7GW.   Its two-hour projects are expected to participate principally in the UK wholesale and balancing markets.    They are not expected to depend for revenues on ancillary services, which Fig regards as shallower than the wholesale and balancing markets.

TRIG said its new unit may also consider development opportunities in solar PV.

Payment will be made over the next two years, during which Fig will raise funds by selling planning-approved projects yet to be constructed.

TRIG invests in wind, solar and storage projects across six European countries. Its portfolio’s net generating capacity is over 2.8GW.

InfraRed Capital Partners advised on the deal. Its head of energy income funds Richard Crawford said the Fig Power purchase built on four battery investments that TRIG had added at development-stage in 2022. Construction of the first began last month.

Also in storage investment, high-density fluid specialists RheEnergise has secured £335,000 in equity participation from the Low Carbon Innovation Fund.

The developer’s business model is to drop high-mass proprietary fluid down low-rise gradients to generate electricity at times of high demand.

RheEnergise’s grid-scale solution provides 4 to 16 hours of storage in the 10MW to 100MW power range.  It says its offering is among the few longer term storage solutions which can be scaled rapidly and globally.

Besides the UK and Ireland, RheEnergise is investigating opportunities in north America, Chile and Australia, buoyed by a global LDES market forecast to be worth US$4trillion before the late 2030s.

Its CEO Stephen Crosher, pictured, said: “LCIF and the commitments from other investors underlines the exciting growth potential of our HD Hydro technology.  Over the past 12 months, we have had customer interest in our work from over 30 countries”.

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Reports from numerous media sources this week have the opposition party rescinding from its intention, first announced by shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves and leader Sir Keir Starmer in 2021.

The £28 billion pledge has been progressively watered down in recent months from, first, an annual outlay to be honoured in every year of a Labour government to, in recent months, merely an ambition to be achieved in the final years of a five year Parliament.

Now Labour officials have gone further. Media sources including the FT, BBC and Times Radio have reported that the figure is being abandoned.  Fear that it was an electoral gift to the Conservatives in this year’s forthcoming general election campaign is said to be behind the pledge’s withdrawal. In briefings, advisors say that while the quantified commitment will go, Labour remains committed to ‘transformative change in energy support’.

Government debt now risen to over £100 billon since Labour made the pledge at its 2021 conference is offered in justification for dropping the cash target.  Party figures had feared that the Conservatives would use it in charging the opposition as ‘fiscally lax’.

Only two days ago, Sir Kier Starmer had told Times Radio that his approach to green energy was ‘unwavering’.

The party’s conference last October had approved setting up GB Energy, a nationalised low carbon generator, tasked to phase out gas-fuelled power generation in Britain by 2030, five years earlier than the Conservatives’ deadline.

Shadow energy secretary Ed Milliband, who held the post in the final months of Gordon Brown’s government, is believed to have fought a fierce rearguard action within Labour’s leadership aimed at retaining the £ 28 billion figure.

He had argued that its size sent a strong signal to private investors, and was needed to put the nation on a supposed ‘war footing’ towards ending its dependence on fossil fuels.

Reaction today from green energy entrepreneurs ranged from resignation to disappointment.

Keith McGrane, CEO of Corre Energy, a developer of long-duration grid-scale battery systems, echoed Milliband’s point.

“Prioritising investment in green industries is critical to the future of our world”, he said.  Companies like ours require several sources of capital to help the UK reach its Net Zero ambitions.”

“Labour’s pledge presented a landmark opportunity to turbocharge the deployment of renewable projects in the UK and enable developers in achieving a decarbonised, flexible, and secure grid.

As Keir Starmer has said himself, government investment is ‘desperately needed’ to support this deployment. Companies like ours require several sources of capital to help the UK reach its Net Zero ambitions.” –

Today’s reports of Labour’s probable backtrack co-incide with reports by climate scientists that the planet’s temperatures have already surpassed the lower  1.5 degree warming limit presented at the 2015 Paris COP conference as a minimum safe threshold.

First Minister of Scotland, Humza Yousuf, posted on X, formerly Twitter, that his Westminster colleagues’ anticipated reversal was “a betrayal of Scotland’s renewable industry and economy” and a “complete abdication of leadership” in responding to the climate crisis.

From Photovolt Development Partners, working to deliver the £1 billion Botley West solar farm project near Oxford, co-founder Peter Gerstmann commented: “Solar farms can deliver the renewable power we need quickly, and relatively cheaply – but only with the right national infrastructure.

Gerstman said Labour’s focus must turn to increasing the capacity of Ofgem, planning authorities and the National Grid to deliver renewables projects at scale.

“For a relatively small sum, the UK can expect to see huge gains towards Net Zero, and significant inward investment to our green economy. The UK is a choice country for green investors and developers – such adjustments would increase the UK’s attractiveness even further as a global green energy hub”, said the developer.

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EVs and e-mobility are now the largest sector for spending in the energy transition, growing 36% last year to $634 billion, according to the firm’s influential Energy Transition Investment Trends 2024.  The figure includes spending on vehicles and battery making, as well as associated infrastructure.

In second place, renewable energy generation saw an 8% increase last year in new investment to $623 billion.

At $310 billion, grid and transmission investments made up the third largest sector. Grids are a critical enabler for the energy transition.

China remained the world’s biggest single green power investor, its $676 billion outlay making up 38% of the global total. But that 11% drop on 2022 reflected its faltering economy. The total was surpassed jointly by the US, Europe and the UK.

“Last year brought new records for global renewable energy investment. Strong growth in the US and Europe drove the global rise, even as China sputtered”, commented Meredith Annex, co-author of BNEF’s report.

Despite a year of supply chain constraints, record totals of offshore wind capacity also reached financial close.

Global energy transition investment by sector    Source:  Bloomberg NEF

Overall global renewables spend of $135 billion in 2023 could reach $259 billion next year, according to Bloomberg.

World invests only a third of what it needs to

But the consultancy cautions that global green investments continue to lag far behind UN-sponsored goals to achieve Net Zero by mid-century.

Bloomberg says energy transition spending needs to average $4.8 trillion every year from 2024 to 2030 to align with BNEF’s Net Zero Scenario, a UN Paris Agreement-aligned trajectory from its New Energy Outlook published in 2022. This is nearly three times the total investment observed in 2023.

“Our report shows just how quickly the clean energy opportunity is growing, and yet how far off track we still are,” said Albert Cheung, BNEF’s deputy CEO.

“Energy transition investment spending grew 17% last year, but it needs to grow more than 170% if we are to get on track for net zero in the coming years,“ Cheung added. “Only determined action from policymakers can unlock this kind of step-change in momentum.”

Top 10 economies for 2023 energy transition investment, plus the EU-27 and rest of the world

More details here.

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Delivering a major policy briefing yesterday in Bristol at the start of a probable election year, the Labour leader sought to allay doubts about the extent of the party’s green ambitions.

In recent weeks Labour figures including shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves – pictured with Starmer –  have rowed back from the £28 billion figure, which the party had first presented as an allocation made each and every year of a Labour government.

Conservative ministers have poured scorn on that formulation, saying it could only funded through big tax rises or increased public borrowing.

Starmer yesterday confirmed Labour’s scaling back of the notion, echoing Reeves’ framing of the figure as a goal to be sought as the economy recovers.

In a wide-ranging speech, Starmer stood by what he called the party’s ‘unapologetically ambitious’ targets for government, including

• adopting clean power technologies tasked to strip carbon from networks by 2030,
• launching GB Energy as a nationalised power developer, and
• pushing Britain’s economic growth to bee the fastest among the G7.

As a new public company, said Starmer, the low carbon developer GB Energy would “deliver cheaper bills.. using clean British power, not foreign oil and gas”.

The leader declared: “There is no question of pushing back on the mission – the mission is clean power by 2030”.

Labour’s new plan would, he promised, offer “a total overhaul in how we approach the economy and government”.

Presenting that new approach as “Mission Government”, Starmer repeated Labour’s commitment to existing cross-party Net Zero pledges.

Questioned by journalists about Labour’s £28 billion “Green Prosperity Plan”, Starmer said its existence would stimulates projects funded by private capital investment, and at an intended ratio of three to one.

The plan would be funded in part by borrowing, he confirmed, and would be ramped up from an initial sum over the life of a Labour government’s first Parliament.

“We’ve looked very carefully at the investment that’s needesd”, Starmer went on.  “The investment that we want to put in intended to trigger private investment at a ratio of one to three.

“We’ve had quite extensive discussions with global investors as to how that will work. And the date on which a cheque is written by the government is not the date the mission is delivered – the date the mission is delivered is 2030. That’s the mission.”

Precise levels of green investment would depend, Starmer conceded,  on current government spending and fiscal rules for borrowing.

“Obviously we pushed back the ramping up to £28bn,” Starmer said. “It doesn’t mean there’s nothing before that; it means it’s ramped up to £28bn, subject of course to money the government may already be putting in, and to our fiscal rules. But that is just sensible investment.”

Counting toward Labour’s intended pot of environmental investments, the leader made clear, will green funding already pledged by Conservative administrations. These include £6 billion recently granted for energy efficiency programmes run for three years from 2025.

“We’re trying not just to defeat the Tories”, he declared, “but to defeat their entire way of doing politics, a mindset that seeks out any differences between the people of this country, and, like weeds between the paving stones, will pull apart the cracks, so ultimately, they can divide and rule.”

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Work can now begin on the megaproject 160 km off the Yorkshire coast, next to its already operating sisters Hornsea 1 and 2, together rated at 2.5GW.  First output is scheduled for late 2027.  The Danish firm already operates a total of twelve wind farms in Britain.

In July 2022 the operator won a 15-year contract for difference for Hornsea 3 at a strike price of £37.35 per MWh, inflation-indexed to 2012 prices. The CfD framework permits a reduction of the awarded CfD capacity.  Ørsted said it will use this flexibility to submit a share of Hornsea 3’s capacity into the UK’s next AR6 allocation round, expected in February.

Yesterday’s approval will underpin 5,000 jobs during Hornsea 3’s construction, said the firm, plus another 1,200 skilled roles for its operation.  The engineers’ confidence in the UK’s offshore wind industry stands to confirm billions more in investment cash.

Ørsted says it has already signed contracts with “hundreds” of suppliers for Hornsea 3.  The project is confirmed to be the founding customer for Britain’s first dedicated monopile – turbine tower – factory, opened by Korean manufacturers SeAH on Teesside.

The Danes were able to finalise many prices before fierce inflation this year raised costs for the world’s big contractors.  Siemens’ bigger turbines, each with a span of 236 metres, and experience gained on Hornsea 3‘s sisters will make it cheaper to operate, per MW produced.

Hornsea 1 entered service in 2020 and Hornsea 2 last year. Ørsted runs both from a base in Grimsby.

A fourth neighbouring zone, Hornsea 4, promises 2.6GW more, bringing the single mega-cluster up to 7GW.  The addition received its development consent order from the UK government this year and is now eligible for forthcoming CfD allocation rounds.

Ørsted CEO Mads Nipper commented: “Offshore wind is an extremely competitive global market, so we also welcome the attractive policy regime in the UK which has helped secure this investment”.

The developer’s UK boss Duncan Clark added: “Hornsea 3 will be a cornerstone in achieving the UK government’s climate and clean energy targets.. Our decision to build it is a vote of confidence in the UK market for offshore wind.

Energy security secretary Claire Coutinho tweeted her delight.

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New research commissioned by NatWest from Boston Consulting quantifies the need, as well as policy precursors including consistent spending signals from ministers, closer working between the Treasury and private investors, and steady commitments from energy companies to put new technologies on the market.

Flagging up the scale of spending needed, the duo highlight more investment in renewables and  network switches and cables, and new technologies such as energy storage systems, carbon capture and storage, and hydrogen.  The study draws on recent analysis by bodies such as analysis as the Climate Change Committee, the International Energy Agency and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The report suggests businesses should deliver change by working together to test low-carbon solutions, building greater security and resilience into the energy system, and unlocking revenue from UK participants.

“Investment in green infrastructure will help to pay for itself through generating jobs and economic growth, so it’s vital the entire value chain works together to make this happen,” said Andy Gray, the bank’s managing director of commercial mid-market operations.

“The UK needs clean, stable and affordable energy supplies, but huge capital expenditure is needed to make this a reality.”

“To decarbonise the UK’s energy supply, the industry needs to scale its infrastructure and technology, all of which will require finance. It’s clear that there needs to be greater collaboration between policy, regulation and finance to enable this to happen,

“This report estimates that the UK’s energy supply needs over £900 billion to reach net zero by 2050. Mobilising the capital needed will be complex, and the findings serve as a clear call for all actors across the system to work together to find solutions.

“Society has gone through energy transitions in the past — but nothing like this one”, Boston Consulting partner Eriola Beetz added.   “We are just at the beginning of the journey.

“As the clock keeps ticking, one of the key challenges we face is plugging a substantial investment gap to support the quick roll out of solutions and innovation we desperately need. Financial institutions are in an excellent position to leverage the learnings and experience from backing technologies such as wind and solar over the last decade.”

NatWest Group has targeted its provision of £100 billion of Climate and Sustainable Funding and Financing by the end of 2025. In 2020, was ranked 1st in UK project finance renewables lending.

Read the report here

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Analysis contained in the respected consultancy’s report ‘Race to net zero: Rebuilding Investor confidence in the UK’ highlights the impact of subsidy and policy schemes worldwide, such as the US’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the EU’s Green Deal Industrial Plan (GDIP). Both schemes, offering steady support to renewables generators, look set to give both blocs a competitive edge over the UK.

The US has witnessed a surge of investment in green projects following the introduction of the IRA, Data analysed by Cornwall Insight quantifies big financial incentives totalling $369bn for Net Zero technologies and infrastructure over the decade to 2032.

With a limited global pool of renewable investment, this could cause significant damage to the UK’s net zero plans, especially with challenges like rising inflation, supply chain disruptions, and labour shortages already hindering investment.

Figure 1: US investment in renewable energy in the first 60 weeks since the passage of the IRA

Source: American Clean Power

The UK government has announced short-term changes to its renewable investment incentives, in response to the underwhelming outcome of the fifth Allocation Round (AR5) of its Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme.  Securing only 3.5GW of new capacity earlier this year against 11GW in the previous round, AR5 plumbed record low levels of renewable investment. Concerns over the low probable returns their funds will yield are accepted as one of the core reasons for low developer enthusiasm.

With the sixth Allocation Round due next year, the government has responded with changes. By raising Administrative Strike Prices (ASPs) – the maximum Strike Price which a technology can achieve – the government hopes to regain interest and competition in the scheme.

Figure 2: ASPs for AR6 and AR5 (in 2012 money) and percentage change from AR5 to AR6

Source: GOV.uk

Despite these adjustments, uncertainties persist regarding long-term reforms and the suitability of the CfD.

Britain’s government is actively exploring reform options through the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) to create enduring market structures for a fully decarbonised and cost-effective electricity system by 2035.

Also under imminent Whitehall review are features of future CfD rounds.  Separate pots defined more tightly around specific technology types are under consideration, such as seen with offshore wind in AR6 and the inclusion of non-price factors in the CfD scheme, with the proposed introduction of Sustainable Industry Rewards (SIRs) in AR7, AR8, and AR9.

Cornwall research analyst Jamie Maule observed: “The UK’s position as an attractive destination for renewable investment is at risk of slipping, with the potential for significant setbacks in achieving net zero targets.

“Once a trailblazer in global renewable energy investment, the success of the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme is now challenged by escalating capital costs, low administrative strike prices, and intense global competition. While short-term incentives play a role, the enduring incentives in the US and the EU threaten to divert funds away from the UK.

“Right now, the UK is certainly not a lost cause for investors“, Maule went on.

“But it must act clearly and decisively if it is to rebuild investor confidence and maintain progress towards net zero. Timely government policies and proactive decisions are crucial. Waiting for events, like the lack of offshore wind bids in the last CfD allocation round, is a luxury the UK can ill afford.”

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Calculated by the ESO as six times the capacity of the Hinkley C nuclear plant, the ‘twenty gig’ offer is split 50:50 between already flagged regional distribution schemes, and higher-voltage transmission networks.   NG-ES says today’s announcement is in line with its five-point plan for hook-ups.

Over the Grid’s high-voltage transmission spine, 19 amp-hosting projects totalling around 10GW will be offered new dates to plug in, averaging four years earlier than current expectations.

The ESO’s removal of its insistence on non-essential checks before any battery is connected, a concession long sought by developers, enables today’s acceleration.

Over its lower-voltage distribution network spanning the Midlands, south west England and south Wales, an additional 10GW of unlocked capacity already announced will speed the process. The Grid portrays its initiative as bringing forward ‘shovel ready’ schemes by up to five years.

National Grid say it has talked to more than 200 projects interested in fast-tracking distribution hook-ups.  Sixteen say they want to plug in before late 2024, with another 180 looking to connect within two to five years.

The privatised NG-ESO is the monopoly which controls the contractual relationships governing the connection of new generation sites.

Prioritising shareholder pay-outs over essential upgrades to switches and cables is often cited by critics & clean power developers as causing waits of a decade or more to plug in new wind and solar farms.

Last month Common Wealth, a Labour-aligned think tank, reported that the privatised Grid had paid just short of £ 28 billion in dividends since privatisation in 1986. Achieving Net Zero by mid-century will require between £40 bn and £110 in network upgrade, they said with the costs likeliest to fall on customers or taxpayers.

The left-leaning analysts calculated that decarbonising Britain’s grid as expected by 2030 will require building five times the length of high-voltage backbone as were completed in the past thirty years.

Today’s acceleration will be delivered by National Grid Electricity Transmission (ET), the ESO’s arm charged with designing and building in England and Wales’ transmission infrastructure.

The passing into law two weeks ago of the 2023 Energy Act has also helped the initiative.  It will see the Grid’s duties as an ‘energy systems operator’ widened into its imminent replacement, a ‘future systems operator’.

ET president Alice Delahunty declared:  “We’re committed to speeding up connections and creating a ‘fit for the future’ process for plugging projects into the grid.

“Bringing these battery projects forward is one of a range of actions that our business is delivering to unlock clean energy capacity in England and Wales”.

NG-ESO chief engineer & head of networks Julian Leslie added:  “We’re pleased to see the tangible delivery against one of the key points of our five-point plan to speed up connections to the transmission grid for battery and storage projects.

“We’re evolving our network and taking the lead on speeding up connections to make our power system fit for the future, to deliver net zero and keep clean power flowing to the growing number of homes and business across Great Britain, fuelling our economy”.

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