Great British Energy budget shifts toward nuclear preparation and a new grid venture

Great British Energy’s £8.3 billion budget is being redirected toward nuclear preparation and a new grid venture in the UK, POLITICO reported on 20 October, shifting money away from the renewable generation role originally set out for the state-owned company. The change matters for the scale of its planned investment in wind, solar and local power projects.

When the company was established, then Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said it would ‘own, manage and operate clean power projects’ and generate electricity itself. Labour officials familiar with the plans told POLITICO in 2024 that about £3 billion would go to local projects, with the remainder helping the company enter the market, including through stakes in wind and solar developments.

How Great British Energy’s funding has changed

Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced at Labour’s annual conference that Great British Grid would sit within Great British Energy. Media reports put the grid venture’s access to the company’s funds at £4 billion, but Department for Energy Security and Net Zero officials told POLITICO they did not recognise that figure. Its allocation therefore remains unclear.

In a 14 October speech, Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh said Great British Grid would bring additional public investment and dedicated leadership while working alongside existing network operators and private investors. She said it was intended to support grid upgrades, reduce the costs of managing network constraints and meet rising electricity demand.

The debate over public grid investment

Energy UK chief executive Dhara Vyas questioned whether grid investment was the best use of public money when transmission operators were already spending tens of billions of pounds on the network, POLITICO reported. She said private investment would pay for the energy transition, while allowing that public money could help where a specific connection lacked an existing plan.

Joshua Emden, a senior research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research, told POLITICO that the company’s focus had shifted but argued that grid spending could be an efficient use of government money because private network operators hold monopolies. Shadow Energy Minister Harriet Cross questioned whether today’s company still resembled the government’s July 2024 vision.

Bill Esterson, the Labour MP who chairs Parliament’s Energy Security and Net Zero Committee, said Great British Energy had made a slow start and focused on activities with limited impact. He said the grid venture suggested a greater emphasis on building infrastructure where network companies were failing to deliver. A department spokesperson said public and private investment would work together to build the grid Britain needs.