Great British Energy (GBE) Supply Chain Fund: Offshore Wind and Networks

Great British Energy (GBE) Supply Chain Fund: Offshore Wind and Networks

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Summary

The GBE Supply Chain Fund: Offshore Wind and Networks (the Fund) launched on 11 December 2025. The Fund will award up to £300 million in capital grant funding to build UK manufacturing capacity for key constrained components in offshore wind and enabling electricity networks sectors.

The Fund’s application window opened on 11 December 2025 and will close 10 December 2026 (or earlier if our funding pot is fully allocated.) Grant funding must be drawn down between April 2026 and March 2030.

Growth in demand for offshore wind and electricity networks components is outpacing supply chain capacity, resulting in bottlenecks, longer lead times, higher project costs and project delays. This risks delaying critical projects and risking the UK’s renewable energy ambitions. The Fund will target investment towards the most constrained offshore wind and electricity networks components to address critical supply chain constraints and enhance supply chain security in the UK.

GBE expects that this investment in additional manufacturing capacity will directly and indirectly mobilise more than one billion pounds in public and private investment and create and support thousands of jobs, including in the UK’s industrial clusters.

This page outlines key details on the Fund, including how to apply for funding. As part of the full Application, applicants are required to complete the jobs template to show the employment impacts the applicant expects the project to generate. For instructions on how to complete this template, see the Guidance.

Eligibility

Below we summarise the key eligibility criteria for grant funding. Please see the Guidance for the full list.

The applicant must be a company registered under the Companies Act 2006 at the point of submitting a full Application.
All areas of the UK are eligible for funding, subject to Windsor Framework considerations.
Funding must be used to construct new, or extend existing, manufacturing facilities in the UK.
The applicant must confirm that eligible costs will not facilitate the relocation of existing production activities within the UK.
The project (when completed) must manufacture one or more of the critical components on the Fund’s eligibility list (see below).
Eligible costs must be capital expenditure (CapEx) directly related to the project with a limited scope including: buildings, production equipment and machinery, any associated infrastructure that facilitates delivery and is linked to the specific product being manufactured, and/or research and development costs associated with the manufacturing facility (provided that the grant must also be for construction of those relevant facilities).
Eligible costs do not include operating expenditure (OpEx), costs related to land purchase or property transactions, associated service and maintenance agreements, embedded warranty costs, and interest costs.
A project is only eligible for grant funding via this Fund if the grant funding is necessary for the project to proceed – i.e. the project has a genuine case for assistance.

How to apply

Applications must be submitted through the online application portal. To access the application portal, please click here.

The application process consists of four stages:

Eligibility – a high-level check on whether the application meets the Fund’s eligibility criteria.
Readiness Review – a check on whether the project is sufficiently ready to progress to full application stage.
Full Application – an assessment of the application against 4 areas – strategic, technical, financial and economic fit.
Portfolio-Based Review – these happen quarterly, after each round deadline, with all submitted applications considered in parallel against four Portfolio Factors to ensure the Fund establishes a coherent, balanced portfolio aligned with the Fund’s policy objectives.

The first 3 stages will have corresponding forms that must be completed and submitted via the application portal. No further submission is required for the Portfolio-Based Review stage. If an applicant is successful at each of these 4 stages, they will progress to due diligence and, subject to that process, a grant funding decision and award.

For further information, please see our offline application questions here.

Key dates

The below table outlines the key dates for the Fund.

*Subject to the Fund’s budget not having been fully allocated in a previous round (please see the Fund’s Guidance for further details). 

Applicants must have submitted the full Application form and accompanying documents by the deadline for Round 1 to be guaranteed to be considered for funding. Provided the Fund’s budget is not fully allocated during an earlier round, GBE will proceed with a second, then a third and a fourth round. To be considered for funding as part of those later rounds, applicants must submit the full Application form and accompanying documents by the round deadline.

GBE will close the application window early should the Fund’s budget be allocated at either Round 1, 2 or 3.

Objectives

The Fund has 2 leading objectives and a sub-objective:

Primary objective: Increase UK manufacturing capacity of key constrained offshore wind and electricity network components.
Secondary objective: Create and support new and existing jobs in the UK, including in industrial clusters.
Sub-objective: Promote more resilient and sustainable means of production by encouraging investment in shorter or greener supply chains.

Critical Components

The Fund has a list of eligible Critical Components for the offshore wind and related electricity network sectors. Projects that manufacture components on that list will be within the scope of the Fund.

The critical components are listed below: 

Note, GBE will regularly review the criticality of components to ensure the eligible components list remains an accurate representation of UK critically constrained offshore wind and networks supply chains. For further details on the above Critical Components, please see the Fund’s Guidance.

Ticket size

There is no minimum or maximum restriction on the size of the grant sought from GBE. However, the amount of grant requested must represent the minimum necessary for the project to proceed, and will also be assessed on value for money.

Energy Minister, Michael Shanks, said:

 “We want our clean energy future to be built here in Britain as part of our modern Industrial Strategy. This fund will boost our manufacturing capabilities for offshore wind – supporting jobs and growth in communities across the country.”

Chief Executive of Scottish Renewables, Claire Mack, said:

“Having already delivered multiple gigawatts of fixed offshore wind projects, Scotland continues to attract intense global interest as an investment opportunity with one of the world’s biggest pipelines of floating offshore wind projects. Offshore wind farms are large and complex infrastructure projects that depend on our vast, interconnected network of specialist suppliers.
"The supply chain fund announced today by GB Energy represents a significant step forward in strengthening our manufacturing capability and expanding the operational capacity needed to support the sector’s continued growth. Having tier one businesses manufacturing turbine towers, blades, nacelles and other essential components in this country will not only boost opportunities for the local supply chain but will have a profound and long-lasting positive impact on Scotland’s economy.”

CEO of Global Underwater Hub, Neil Gordon, said:

“The GB Energy Supply Chain Fund sends a strong signal of government’s determination to ensure the clean energy transition is designed, manufactured and delivered in the UK. By targeting constrained components across offshore wind and electricity networks, the Fund directly supports the delivery of offshore wind at scale.
"The UK’s underwater supply chain is ready to respond if given long-term investment certainty. This funding has the potential to unlock significant private capital, strengthen regional industrial clusters and create high-value jobs while improving the resilience and security of critical energy infrastructure.
"Global Underwater Hub is closely aligned with GB Energy and will work alongside to support delivery of the Fund."

Interim CEO of Renewable UK, Jane Cooper, said:

"Last year the offshore wind industry published an Industrial Growth Plan, which set out in detail the new factories and wider network of businesses in the UK which will be critical to deliver the wind farms the country needs, which include facilities manufacturing key components like cables, blades and foundations.
"It’s fantastic that Great British Energy is aligning with industry to secure those potential investments, providing their £300 million fund alongside private investment from developers of new wind farms in the years ahead.
"There are already factories and businesses all over the UK which have benefitted from work in the offshore wind sector. If the Government continues to work closely with our industry to deliver new offshore wind farms at the pace and scale they’re talking about, and maintains supportive schemes like Great British Energy’s Supply Chain Fund and the Industrial Strategy, we believe the sector’s supply chain could provide a £25bn boost to the UK economy over the next decade.”

Chief Executive of ETZ Ltd, Maggie McGinlay, said:

"GBE's focus on supporting the supply chain is welcome and much needed. North East Scotland is home to the largest cluster of energy supply chain companies in the UK, the majority of which have the skills and capability to support the design engineering, service capability and high value manufacturing requirements of offshore wind.
"This, coupled with the fact that the majority of transformational ScotWind and INTOG projects lie within 100 nautical miles of Aberdeen, should mean companies across our region will benefit from this wider £1 billion package of support and that is exactly what ETZ Ltd will advocate for."

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the funding for?

The GBE Supply Chain Fund: Offshore Wind and Networks awards up to £300 million in capital grant funding to build UK manufacturing capacity for key constrained components in offshore wind and enabling electricity networks sectors.
The Fund has a list of eligible Critical Components for the offshore wind and related electricity network sectors. Projects that manufacture components on that list are within the scope of the Fund.
The grant funding must be used to construct new or extend existing manufacturing facilities in the UK. The funded activities must take place in the UK.

When will the £300m funding be available? 

The application window is open for an initial 12-month period or until the Fund’s budget is fully allocated, whichever is earlier. Funding must be drawn down by successful projects during the delivery period of April 2026 to March 2030.
Grant payments will only be made in arrears and only after a claim has been submitted by the project of defrayed expenditure against agreed eligible costs and deliverables, which has been verified by GBE.

What are the objectives of the Fund? 

Primary objective: Increase UK manufacturing capacity of key constrained offshore wind and electricity network components.
Secondary objective: Create and support new and existing jobs in the UK, including in industrial clusters.
Sub-objective: Promote more resilient and sustainable means of production by encouraging investment in shorter or greener supply chains.

How does an organisation apply for funding?

Applications should be submitted via our online application portal.
There are three submission stages via the portal (Eligibility, Readiness Review and full Application) with a separate application form for each stage, followed by a Portfolio-Based Review stage (no submission required). If an applicant is successful at each of these 4 stages, they progress to due diligence and, subject to that process, a grant funding decision and award.

Which components and associated costs are eligible? 

The list of eligible components includes: mooring and anchoring, blades, nacelles, towers, monopiles, transition pieces, HVDC cables, HVAC cables (incl. Dynamic), power transformers (AC and DC), HVDC converter stations, switchgear, reactive power management and control systems.
GBE will regularly review the criticality of components to ensure the list remains an accurate representation of the most critically constrained offshore wind and electricity networks supply chains in the UK.
Eligible costs must be capital expenditure (CapEx) directly related to the Project with a limited scope including: buildings, production equipment and machinery; any associated infrastructure that facilitates delivery and is linked to the specific product being manufactured; and/or research and development costs associated with the manufacturing facility (provided that the grant must also be for construction of those relevant facilities). Eligible costs should be able to be capitalised in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards.
Eligible costs do not include: operating expenditure (OpEx), costs related to land purchase or property transactions, associated service and maintenance agreements, embedded warranty costs, and interest costs.

Is funding restricted to a certain area of the UK? 

All areas of the UK are eligible for funding, subject to Windsor Framework considerations.
Through the funding assessment criteria, we encourage alignment with the regional industrial strengths identified in the government’s Industrial Strategy and where there is a strategic importance to the UK energy ecosystem.

What is the ticket size for funding? 

There is no minimum or maximum restriction on the size of the investment. The amount of grant requested must represent the minimum necessary for the project to proceed. Projects are assessed on whether they represent good value for money and GBE expects applicants to consider this when applying for funding.

Can we apply retrospectively for monies already committed or spent?

The Fund is designed to support projects that enable additional impact that would not otherwise occur without grant funding. Projects that are already viable without grant support, or that would proceed at the same scale and timings in the UK regardless of funding, fall outside the scope of this Fund.

Can we mix funding with older or pre-existing funds (e.g. public funds already committed)? 

Applicants can apply if they have received other public funding, but must disclose all sources of public funding and any subsidy control analysis will take into account not just any proposed grant funding arising from the Fund but all public monies and funding provided to or proposed to be provided to an applicant.
Project financing criteria within the application process includes the readiness condition that all project funding has been satisfactorily planned (excluding the grant amount), with a clear supporting rationale provided for all expected sources of private and public funding, including detail of any other grant/concessional finance support they are in discussions about, or expect to receive, clearly distinguishing between private and public finance/HMG sources.

How does the assessment process work?

Full detail of the assessment process including timings are provided in the Guidance document.

Support and contact information

If applicants require any further clarification or information relating to their application not covered in this guidance document, they should email SupplyChainFund@gbe.gov.uk with the subject heading “GBE Supply Chain Fund: Offshore Wind & Networks Clarification - [Project Title]” and GBE will endeavour to respond as soon as possible. If GBE deems a clarification to be of relevance to other applicants (or potential applicants), GBE may share the anonymised question and answer with other applicants.