Great British Energy Strategic Plan

December 2025 

Our strategy is a work of engagement with industry, civic society and consumer groups, combined, underpinned by evidence and vision. It balances delivering short-term outcomes– especially in our GBE Local business – while helping to shape the future energy system. That means unlocking new industries and technologies that revitalise Britain’s industrial heartlands, stimulating growth and jobs in places where they are needed most. 

GBE will give British people a share in the energy transition: unlocking the energy potential of public land; innovating new business models to enable low-cost renewable energy owned by communities; and breaking the frontiers of new technologies that we need to meet our targets. All of this underpinned by a £1bn investment into unlocking British supply chains so that our energy is engineered in the UK. 

GBE is operationally independent and determined to champion the UK’s role in the energy transition. We want future generations to look back with pride that the UK took a leadership role in this era’s defining transformation. 

Dan McGrail, CEO of Great British Energy. 

Great British Energy: Clean, Secure, Yours. 

Great British Energy (GBE) is the UK’s publicly owned energy company for a new era of national purpose. 

Our mission 

Our mission is simple and bold: 

Public Ownership of Energy with Purpose: accelerate clean energy and the industries that support it to ensure workers and communities reap the benefits of clean, secure, homegrown energy. 

For too long, the UK has relied on imported energy, while other state-owned companies have benefitted from owning our crucial energy assets. GBE represents a decisive break: a national energy champion that will plan, invest and build the infrastructure that powers our future and puts the British public at the heart of the energy system. 

Public ownership with purpose means we use public capital to unlock private investment, not replace it. GBE will first and foremost be an energy developer, owning and operating assets while using investments to catalyse growth and build industries that last. Returns from assets the public owns are reinvested back into more capacity, more jobs, and more opportunity. 

This is our first Strategic Plan. It sets out how the company is positioning itself to achieve its mission. We are starting by setting out our aims and targets for the next 5 years. 

Our aims and outcomes 

Our activity 

We will drive these outcomes by establishing our own project development function, giving the public a stake in assets across the development lifecycle. 

Our initial investments will be focused on priority areas that will best deliver our aims across a balanced portfolio.

Our priority areas are: 

• GBE Local – the transformative force that makes local energy and community ownership commonplace, ensuring communities and public services directly benefit from the infrastructure they host. 

• Onshore Energy – unlocking the energy potential of public land and investing strategically to deliver to the UK’s flexibility and grid stability needs. 

• Offshore Energy – boosting jobs and growth in Scotland and the Celtic Sea by unlocking the next frontier in offshore wind: deeper waters. 

Across all our priorities and beyond, our supply chain function will invest in initiatives to alleviate constraints, stimulate growth and contribute to the UK’s Industrial Strategy, delivering Energy, Engineered in the UK. 

Great British Energy (GBE) is a publicly owned energy champion, created to accelerate the deployment of clean energy technologies and to ensure UK taxpayers, billpayers, communities and the energy workforce reap the benefits of a clean and secure energy system. 

Our ambition is to become a lasting national institution that the British public will be proud of: a developer, constructor and owner of homegrown energy that is Clean, Secure and Yours. From our base in Aberdeen, we are building GBE not just as a company, but as a cornerstone of the UK’s energy landscape: a trusted, transparent and innovative public champion that stands shoulder to shoulder with the leading state-owned energy companies of Europe. GBE will become recognised both at home and abroad as a world-class energy institution that embodies the values, expertise and ambition of the UK. 

 The Great British Energy Act, which received Royal Assent in May 2025, provided for the UK’s first publicly owned national energy company to develop, own and operate energy assets since the privatisation of the Central Electricity Generating Board in the early 1990s. The 2025 Spending Review allocated GBE and GBE-Nuclear over £8.3 billion to deploy towards our missions of delivering clean energy for the people. 

Note: Great British Energy and Great British Energy – Nuclear (GBE-N) will operate as two separate publicly owned companies with a shared mission to accelerate the deployment of clean energy assets. GBE will develop renewable and storage assets working in alignment with GBE-N, which will help deliver the UK government’s nuclear programme. 

Our first Strategic Plan is our formal response to the UK government’s Statement of Strategic Priorities (SSP) for GBE¹. The Plan sets out how GBE will achieve the objectives set out in the SSP. It explains how we will establish and scale our operations to achieve our mission and aims. It outlines the activities we will undertake and how we plan to operate. 

Whilst we are wholly owned by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, we are operationally independent from UK government. This independence is fundamental to our role: it enables us to act as a trusted, expert body that can make impartial, evidence-based decisions in the energy market, in order to best achieve the objectives set out in the SSP. 

The Plan provides a starting point for GBE to become an enduring public institution, beginning with our aims for the next 5 years. We will update our Strategic Plan every two years to share our strategic approach and communicate our position to the market. 

Whilst the purview of the plan is 5 years, we are very deliberately looking beyond 2030. GBE will help shape the energy landscape to 2035, 2050 and beyond, whilst keeping focus on what must happen now to unlock our future energy system. 

We are just at the start of our journey, and we recognise that to create enduring impact we need to combine ambition with establishing our core competencies. These early years will be about building industry-leading expertise, establishing partnerships and laying a foundation of early commercial successes to build out from. 

Developing our Strategic Plan 

Collaboration is key to how GBE operates, utilising the best insights from public and private stakeholders. 

In developing our Strategic Plan we have: 

Market assessment and analysis 

Homegrown, clean and affordable energy will power the UK as we move away from reliance on volatile fossil fuel markets. Becoming a clean energy superpower will require the modernisation of the UK energy system. Our analysis considers this evolution, underpinned by the UK government’s Clean Power 2030 ambitions², and framed in the longer term by scenario analysis from the National Energy System Operator (NESO’s) pathways to 2050³. 

Today electricity accounts for around 20% of the country’s primary source of energy demand, but by 2050 it will be the primary source the energy powering our country. Electrification will cut across all parts of the economy, lowering emissions and increasing system efficiency. Clean electricity will power our transport, heat our homes, fuel our industry and support the expansion of new data centres, whilst delivering an estimated 60% of the UK’s emissions reduction by 2050⁴. 

GBE will be at the forefront of this transition, catalysing the investments and activity needed to meet the doubling of our electricity demand, and capturing the economic benefits for the British public in the process. We will align our actions with the UK’s Industrial Strategy⁵ and Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan⁶, bringing manufacturing back to our towns and cities to build the industries of the future. 

Building an electricity system based on domestic renewable generation and storage capacity will make the whole UK energy system more secure and resilient. The International Energy Agency reports that the UK currently depends on imported fossil fuels for approximately 20% of energy related to electricity generation⁷. Without our own domestic renewables, this figure would be closer to 60%. This dependency on fossil fuels directly impacts the UK’s economy. Since 1970 over half of UK recessions have been caused by fossil fuel price shocks⁴. The energy transition will increase sovereignty whilst tackling climate change. 

Supplying this growing electricity demand will necessitate an immense scale up of electricity generation. NESO’s scenario analysis indicates that by 2035, Britain may need around 83-175 TWh more electricity than we needed in 2024⁸, dependent on the pace of decarbonisation. This is equivalent to the electricity demand of over 30 million UK homes⁹. By 2050, demand could be as high as around 800 TWh. 

As electricity demand increases, we need to ensure that supply keeps pace. NESO estimates that by 2035 there could be a 20-35 GW shortfall in electricity generation capacity compared to their Future Energy Scenario (FES) pathways which set out a range of routes for meeting our 2050 net zero targets³. 

NESO also produce a ‘slowest’ credible decarbonisation pathway which does not meet net zero by 2050. Even in this scenario, the shortfall in capacity could grow to up to 90 GW by 2050. There is a risk that without action, the UK will miss out on the opportunity that the energy transition brings. GBE will be part of the action needed to address this possible shortfall. 

Figure 1: UK electricity and total energy demand over time to the nearest 5 TWh⁸ 

Key technologies are at risk of under-delivery. In NESO’s Future Energy Scenario pathways^3,8: 

GBE’s key focus, at a strategic level, is to work with the private sector to de-risk the pipeline that already exists and originate new projects that fill the gap to the upper reaches of the UK’s ambitions for clean energy. 

Figure 2: Current level, 2035 trajectory¹⁴ and NESO pathway ranges⁸ for renewable deployment in GBE priority technologies.  

GBE will support delivery of the existing pipeline of projects and catalyse new development to close the gap between the current trajectory for deployment and the 2035 and 2050 demand under NESO FES pathways. 

Our Vision 

Great British Energy: Clean, Secure, Yours. 

Our Mission 

Public Ownership of Energy with Purpose: accelerate clean energy and the industries that support it, ensuring workers and communities reap the benefits of clean, secure, homegrown energy. 

Our vision and mission 

Great British Energy has a vision: to become an enduring institution that delivers the benefits of a cleaner, more secure energy system to the UK public. Energy powered by purpose, owned by the people and dedicated to unlocking the UK’s potential in an electrified world. That’s Great British Energy: Clean. Secure. Yours. 

To realise this vision, we are orientating our activities and decisions around achieving our mission: 

Public Ownership of Energy with Purpose: accelerate clean energy and the industries that support it, ensuring UK workers and communities reap the benefits of clean, secure, homegrown energy. 

Public ownership with purpose means delivering outcomes through utilising the qualities and incentives that GBE has, that are not shared by other companies and organisations. These qualities will complement and enhance activity in the sector boosting deployment and modernising our energy system. We will align with the strategic objectives set out in the Industrial Strategy⁵, its Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan, and the Clean Energy Jobs Plan¹⁵ as well as future UK government strategies and publications such as NESO’s Strategic Spatial Energy Plan¹⁶. 

What makes us different 

GBE’s success will be measured by more than returns 

Wider public benefit through a better, more affordable energy system and good jobs. We will mobilise investment from other developers and finance institutions – both public and private, domestic and international – as well as from local and community funding, to bring these opportunities to the UK. 

GBE will have a different risk appetite, seeking wider benefits 

GBE will invest responsibly, seeking returns whilst embracing balanced risks associated with market, business model and/or technological nascence. We will evaluate returns in the broadest sense, considering the social good and wide-ranging impact of our investments over the long term. 

We will coordinate between private and public sectors 

With a more patient investing strategy that will unlock critical supply chain constraints and enable the country to benefit from the economic opportunity tied to the energy transition. 

GBE will partner with community energy groups and local authorities 

Offering a toolkit of advice, guidance, templates and industrial expertise to unlock greater community stakes in clean energy. GBE will also offer opportunities for community benefit and shared ownership through its own portfolio of projects, and demonstrate best practice. 

We will reinvest returns to support the public good 

As a publicly owned company, we will reinvest returns to increase both the impact we make, and the good we deliver. Retaining and reinvesting profits in the long run will compound progress and accelerate the energy transition. 

Success for GBE will mean leveraging our unique qualities and turning them into an actionable plan to deliver results. Reflecting the strategic objectives set out in the Statement of Strategic Priorities, we have four key aims to achieve in the next 5 years: 

Aims 

Outcomes 

Aim 1 outcomes: 

Aim 2 outcomes: 

Aim 3 outcomes: 

Aim 4 outcomes: 

Measurable impacts lead to real-world outcomes. GBE will publish an Impact and Performance Framework, outlining how impacts will be considered and evaluated by the organisation. 

GBE’s impact on energy costs 

Reducing energy costs is a national endeavour. The UK government will play an essential role, with GBE’s activity designed to complement this action. GBE will create direct impact through our local and community activities and, in the longer term, through driving cost reduction in new technologies and investing in projects that will make our energy system more efficient. 

GBE supports the installation of renewables at schools, hospitals and public buildings, connecting low-cost energy to communities. GBE’s existing partnership with the Department for Education and the NHS has potential to deliver lifetime savings of hundreds of millions of pounds off energy bills, saving a typical school or hospital tens of thousands of pounds per year¹⁷. 

Where community energy is deployed, groups will have the ability to redistribute earnings from these assets back into the participating communities. When we get this right, investing in energy can unlock better outcomes on the things that really matter for people – health, education and wellbeing. 

Taking a long-term, cross-sector view, GBE will locate its generation and storage assets in a way that aligns with the system. Investing in flexibility will capture greater value from our existing assets and reduce the pressure on network reinforcement. This will benefit the system, industries and the billpayers. 

We will also catalyse long term cost reductions in offshore energy, with nearer-term wins for the British public via good quality jobs in supply chains through our Energy, Engineered in the UK £1 billion fund. 

GBE’s initial capitalisation will be utilised across various business activities to support clean energy development. We anticipate having different roles in different sectors, initially with minority equity in nascent technologies and more majority stakes in mature technologies. 

• GBE Local: The transformative force that makes local energy and community ownership commonplace, ensuring communities and public services directly benefit from the infrastructure they host in supported generation and flexibility assets, across our total project pipeline 

• Onshore Energy: Unlocking the energy potential of public land and investing strategically to deliver on the UK’s flexibility and grid stability needs. 

• Offshore Energy: Boosting jobs and growth in Scotland and the Celtic Sea by unlocking the next frontier in offshore wind: deeper waters. 

• Supply Chain – Energy Engineered in the UK: Underpinning our clean energy deployment with a comprehensive, complementary supply chain program to unlock industrial opportunities from the energy transition and to ensure the UK develops enduring capabilities in clean energy technologies. 

Our methodology 

Deploying our capital to maximise the impact we have means focusing on the sectors where public ownership with purpose can have greatest impact. By focusing our efforts, we can build expertise and core competencies quickly and use these to be a more effective delivery partner and clean energy champion. 

Whilst being operationally independent, we will operate within the mandate set out in the SSP. We will invest in, develop, own and operate electricity generation projects, doing this in tandem with our activity in clean energy supply chains. We do not have plans in this phase to become an electricity retailer selling power to domestic users directly, nor do we foresee GBE developing or directly investing in large-scale network or grid infrastructure. 

Our shortlist of priority technology areas has been identified through a combination of market engagement and portfolio modelling. We have considered which technologies best balance the aims of the company and provide opportunities for GBE to utilise its unique role. 

We will evaluate projects and ventures on a case-by-case basis while continuing to monitor market trends. The priority technology areas listed in this plan are where we will focus our efforts initially. We may amend our areas if there are opportunities to better meet our ambitions as markets evolve. 

Analytical approach 

Our high-level process for identifying priority areas: 

Priority 1 – GBE Local 

Transforming local and community energy ownership. 

GBE Local - Context 

GBE Local will enable the rollout of a new era of community and local energy projects across the UK in the near term, whilst developing longer-term, scalable models to unlock the value of local energy. 

Context: 

The development of smaller, more modular electricity generators, like solar PV and wind, has created new opportunities for less centralised and more democratised ownership. This includes projects owned by community groups, co-operatives, local government and commercial organisations. 

At their heart, community energy projects involve groups of people coming together to purchase, manage, generate or reduce consumption of energy within a specific area, such as a town, city or region. It typically involves local generation (like solar panels, wind turbines or small-scale hydro), local demand (homes, businesses, public services), and sometimes storage and smart technologies to balance supply and demand. 

The UK’s pathway to a net zero, resilient, and affordable energy system will not be achieved through centralised strategies alone. Communities are at the heart of the UK government’s mission to make the UK a clean energy superpower and need to be able to benefit from the infrastructure in their local area. To achieve this there is a need to establish long-term investor and community confidence. 

GBE Local statistics at a glance: 

Challenges: 

A number of well-understood barriers are preventing the scale up of local and community energy projects, which GBE can have a central role in addressing. The smaller scale of local energy projects and their heterogeneity in terms of technology used, site configuration, location and commercial structure introduces a number of interlinked challenges: 

GBE Local - How will we differentiate? 

By overcoming the barriers faced by local and community energy projects, GBE will accelerate deployment, drive more clean energy generation, and contribute to our aim of increasing local and community energy ownership. 

The Scottish and Welsh Governments have already set ambitions for 2 GW²⁰ and 1.5 GW²¹ of community-owned energy respectively. GBE Local will build on the appetite from the sector, working collaboratively with devolved governments to drive forwards clean energy initiatives in all four nations. 

Realising the full value of distributed energy technologies means unlocking the full potential of onsite and behind-the-meter generation and maximising community and local benefit. Working across the public sector and communities, GBE will develop a range of interventions and products that address the unique challenges facing local and community energy in these settings and will work to identify the common solutions that can be used as a platform for scaling up delivery. 

Alongside immediate actions to scale up local energy projects, GBE will also work in partnership with the UK government to develop and deliver the Local Power Plan. The Local Power Plan will aim to address some of the systemic issues facing the sector such as the challenges with local and community energy realising the value they deliver as well as addressing immediate needs to develop the pipeline of community and local energy projects. 

GBE Local contributing to lower bills 

Renewable assets like rooftop solar or small-scale wind can deliver an immediate reduction in community bills. This is done by directly offsetting grid electricity use or through the distribution of community benefits, as funds, from these projects. When GBE helps deploy or finance rooftop and local distributed generation nearer to the point of use, this can reduce the need for network reinforcement. Opening up flexibility markets for assets to respond better to local price signals can unlock value and lead to an overall reduction in system cost. 

Case study: GBE’s solar scheme 

Hospitals and schools across the country are cutting their energy bills thanks to a £255 million investment from Great British Energy and the UK government²².  

In total the scheme will be supporting around 250 schools, over 270 NHS sites and around 15 military sites across the country.  

Thanks to Great British Energy, millions could now be invested back into frontline services in deprived areas – as the rollout continues on a scheme that will see lifetime savings for schools and the NHS of hundreds of millions of pounds.  

Case study: GBE Community Fund 

The Great British Energy Community Fund is our first grant programme for community energy projects. It is designed to: 

GBE Local - Our role in the Local Power Plan 

GBE will publish a joint Local Power Plan (LPP) with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero in 2026 that will outline our shared long-term vision the local and community energy. 

What the Local Power Plan is 

The Local Power Plan will set out GBE’s and the UK government’s shared ambition for the growth of local energy, including through the growth of local government renewable generation and the community energy sector. Recognising the value that more community and public sector ownership provides, the LPP will ensure people feel the benefits from infrastructure in their local area. The LPP is also important for the UK government’s Clean Power 2030 ambitions². 

The LPP will build on the foundations established by GBE in 2025/26, including funding for solar on schools and hospitals as well as support for renewable deployment within Mayoral Strategic Authorities and community energy groups. It aims to clarify the roles and responsibilities of GBE, the UK government and other key partners. The goal is to provide cleaner, more affordable and more resilient energy at the community level. 

The Local Power Plan will seek to address the key barriers holding back the development of community and local energy, combining the UK government’s role to unlock policy and regulatory barriers with GBE’s role in supporting local government, communities and the public sector to address capability and capacity, and funding and finance barriers. All this will culminate in achieving our aim of increasing public participation and benefit from the energy transition. 

The Local Power Plan will realise the benefits of local and community energy 

Increasing communities’ engagement in the energy transition fosters social benefits which engender social acceptance and develop trust²³. This can in turn foster greater community support for clean energy projects than commercial projects²⁴,²⁵, reducing opposition that can delay the transition. DESNZ’s Public Attitudes Tracker reported that more than 8 in 10 people would be more likely to support a wind or solar farm in their local area if it offered a community benefit¹⁹. 

Additionally, community ownership of renewable energy provides additional capital to the market²⁶,²⁷ through Community Share Offers, reducing developer capital expenditure (CAPEX). It places ownership in the hands of the British people, democratising ownership and increasing British ownership of public assets²⁸. 

Distributed local energy generation can bolster the UK’s energy system resiliency, lowering the cost of curtailment and reducing the likelihood of energy shortages²⁹. 

Giving communities and local people a direct stake in clean energy infrastructure is key to unlocking the full opportunity of the energy transition. 

GBE’s role in delivering the LPP: 

GBE Local - Our investment approach 

To complement our role in the LPP, GBE will develop a commercial platform to unlock the potential of local energy for a range of organisations. 

Our vision for GBE Local: 

GBE Local Energy Platform: 

Our commercial offer for onsite generation 

Our GBE Local platform will provide an end-to-end business solution for onsite generation. It will be a shop window, open to any consumer groups with a desire to develop onsite energy generation at scale. 

This will include community organisations and local government, but would also be open to commercial buildings, social housing and NHS trusts. GBE’s unique role here will include: 

Energy, Engineered in the UK 

Installing clean energy requires a skilled workforce. As we establish a delivery partner network our GBE Local Platform will support jobs and opportunity across the UK. 

GBE Local: Our long-term approach 

GBE Local will deliver in phases, leveraging partnerships to establish early wins, whilst also strategically planning for the longer term. 

Strategic partnerships 

Our partner network will be established to enable GBE to deliver its products and provide access to a larger range of skills and expertise than it could develop in-house. It will also enable GBE to have local economic impact by working with regional organisations and SMEs. 

This will include: 

Phase 1 

Phase 2 

GBE Local Energy - Summary

Why GBE Local? 

How will GBE differentiate and invest? 

Partnerships 

Outcomes 

Priority 2 – Onshore Energy 

Unlock the energy potential of public land. Catalyse the flexible energy systems of the future. 

Why Onshore Energy? 

Onshore renewables including onshore wind, solar photovoltaic (PV), and battery energy storage systems (BESS), will be a cornerstone of future electricity systems. Now among the cheapest sources of power, they will strengthen resilience against fossil fuel price shocks and can be deployed close to demand, reducing the need for network infrastructure. 

Solar and onshore wind are therefore critical generation technologies to the UK government’s ambitious net zero deployment trajectories. NESO’s pathways require up to 62 GW of solar and 39 GW of onshore wind capacity by 2035⁸, up from 20 GW and 16 GW respectively today^10,12. 

GBE will bolster deployment by developing projects that would not otherwise happen, while also establishing robust revenue generation from lower-risk onshore projects as key components of our diverse technology portfolio. Our activity will materially impact 2035 deployment and beyond, with successful early investment supporting the UK government’s Clean Power 2030 ambitions. 

Figure 3 & 4: Onshore energy statistics (solar). Onshore energy statistics (wind).  

While deployment continues at pace, there are risks that these ambitious levels do not materialise. GBE has worked with expert market analysts to understand likely deployment trajectories for onshore technologies¹⁴. This analysis suggests potential shortfalls in capacity of 11 - 15 GW of solar, and 6 - 9 GW of onshore wind by 2035, against NESO’s net zero pathways.  

With up to 60% of existing onshore wind capacity reaching the end of its life by 2040³⁰, repowering of existing sites to maximise benefits from the existing project pipeline will also be crucial to maintaining deployment progress. 

Onshore Energy - How we will differentiate 

GBE is uniquely positioned to originate and own a new generation of utility-scale onshore clean energy projects, unlocking public land and recycling revenues back to the transition. 

The Opportunity 

There is a unique opportunity for GBE to become the UK’s public energy developer, originating new onshore projects to bolster deployment. 

Onshore assets, particularly solar PV and BESS, have some of the shortest development timelines of all utility scale technologies. This provides the opportunity for outcomes to be realised quickly. 

What’s more, established technologies can be used to balance risk across our portfolio, enabling us to build steady, predictable returns allowing us to be more aggressive in pursuing higher-risk innovative technologies in turn. 

We recognise the importance of GBE focusing our efforts on delivering projects and outcomes that would not have occurred otherwise, but we will also look to capitalise on opportunities to invest in and own assets that can deliver stable returns in the near term. 

GBE can unlock project origination opportunities, for example on public land, and we will look to develop assets with strong community focus and participation, utilising our experience and network developed through GBE Local. 

Public Land Opportunity 

Public land provides one of the largest untapped opportunities for onshore renewables in the UK for GBE. We are uniquely positioned to realise its potential as a developer, overcoming a combination of coordination and regulatory challenges. Public ownership of assets on public land offers clear benefits, including:  

Initial geospatial analysis of central UK government landowners identified up to 330km2 of land which could be suitable for onshore renewables¹⁴. Further analysis of viability and exploration with other public landowners is underway. 

By unlocking development on the public estate, including land owned by the UK central government, devolved governments and local authorities, GBE has the potential to make a critical contribution to clean energy deployment.  

Through development on public land, GBE has the unique ability to mobilise private capital into new, emerging opportunities. This collaborative approach will also help address unique challenges the public sector has had with creating viable business models, such as a lack of capital and borrowing restrictions. 

Up to 330km2 of UK government owned land could be suitable for onshore renewables. 

Onshore Energy - Our investment approach 

GBE will take different approaches in different sectors to own and operate assets on behalf of the public, whilst also playing a critical role building momentum through its investments. 

Our vision for onshore energy 

Energy, Engineered in the UK 

Onshore development 

Our focus will be initiating, developing, owning and operating clean energy projects in established technologies which have existing routes to market. We may do this on our own or in partnerships and joint ventures with others, acquiring and developing the necessary in-house capabilities. 

Development across the lifecycle: 

We will undertake lucrative, large-scale, new development opportunities with ability to hold or sell down capital in areas identified as strategic priorities. Repowering of existing sites offers an opportunity to maximise benefits from the existing onshore wind project pipeline. GBE will also look to co-invest in the later development phase to build expertise and strengthen revenues. 

Unlocking public land opportunities: 

We will prioritise overcoming a combination of coordination and regulatory challenges, to unlock development on public land. 

Local and community opportunity: 

GBE will play a leading role with local energy groups, in providing shared ownership structures and community benefits, engaging proactively with the domestic supply chain and the communities hosting clean energy assets. 

GBE will seek alignment with NESO’s Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP)¹⁶ to ensure our projects are optimally located for the benefit of the energy system. GBE’s activities will seek to mitigate grid constraints, reducing system costs and providing local system benefits to deliver cleaner and more resilient energy systems. 

Onshore energy: Why storage? 

Investing in low carbon flexibility complements our renewable assets, allowing us to build a balanced portfolio that delivers the greatest system value. 

Context 

Storage assets balance the grid by generating electricity when the country’s demand is low and discharging it when demand rises again. These assets play a vital role, complementing renewable technologies which generate electricity intermittently based on our weather. 

Our clean energy system needs storage assets that charge and discharge quickly to provide grid services and short-term balancing, as well as storage that can store and discharge energy over longer periods to cover windless spells. 

NESO’s pathways require up to 33 GW of short duration batteries, generally lithium-ion batteries, by 2035⁸, compared to the current capacity of 7 GW. In addition to this, those pathways estimate up to 10 GW of long duration electricity storage (LDES) capacity being required by 2035, up from 2.7 GW today¹³. 

LDES is an umbrella term which encompasses a variety of different technologies, ranging from early-stage concepts all the way to successfully proven technologies with Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 9. 

Figure 5 & 6: Onshore energy statistics (BESS and LDES) 

The Opportunity 

Whilst short duration storage is an established technology, there are opportunities for GBE to de-risk high delivery ambitions. 

Similarly, while the UK’s first LDES cap and floor scheme³¹ aims to unlock critical technologies such as PHES, with the first window looking to support 2.7 - 7.7 GW in new LDES capacity, by de-risking revenues, it cannot fully mitigate the barriers to LDES deployment. This means there are opportunities for GBE to play a role: 

Magnitude of risk and funding needed for large scale storage: GBE will consider its role in giving confidence to the market to bring forwards such technologies with significant upfront capital requirements, facing long construction times, with supply chain constraints challenging delivery pathways. 

Nascent technologies needed for net zero: GBE will also explore supporting nascent LDES technologies carrying higher risks, including lower technology readiness, supply chain volatility and operational risks – all impacting investor appetite. Establishing domestic expertise in more nascent LDES technologies could provide IP and export opportunities as technologies mature. However, these technologies carry higher risks, including lower TRLs, supply chain volatility and operational risks – all of which impact investor appetite.  

Onshore Energy: Our investment approach to flexibility and storage 

A high-level snapshot of a range of flexible technologies, recognising technology development has potential to evolve their roles in the market. 

Our role in flexibility 

We will seek to crowd in private sector capital for established technologies whilst also de-risking projects at different stages of maturity to balance nearer term revenue generation, with longer-term learnings and grid security. 

Accelerating and mobilising significant private capital 

De-risking and stimulating new technologies 

Onshore Energy - Our approach 

Our Onshore Energy function will deliver in phases, leveraging partnerships to establish early wins, whilst also strategically planning for the longer term. 

Strategic Partnerships 

GBE will work with the public and private sector to accelerate the deployment of onshore renewables and agree commercial models with key landowners. 

We will work with key public landowners and developers to create more opportunities for renewable energy projects, including those hosted on public land. In particular, we are developing a partnership with Trydan that will allow us to build our knowledge and capability in onshore development, and help Trydan accelerate onshore energy deployment in Wales. 

Phase 1 

Phase 2 

Onshore Energy - Summary 

Why onshore energy? 

How will we differentiate and invest? 

Our Partnerships 

Outcomes 

Priority 3: Offshore energy  

Unlock the next frontier in offshore energy – deeper waters and the regional industrial growth it can deliver. 

Why Offshore Energy? 

GBE will drive momentum in the deep-water offshore wind sector, taking on risk and investments required to unlock growth in the sector. 

In November this year we announced investment in Pentland Floating Offshore Wind Farm alongside the National Wealth Fund and the Scottish National Investment Bank, each with the option to invest £50 million. 

Pentland Floating Offshore Wind Farm, off the coast of Dounreay in Scotland, will have capacity to generate enough green electricity to power up to 70,000 homes once operational, and is expected to create and support more than 1,000 jobs through its construction and operation. 

Offshore Energy: Our long-term approach 

We will deliver in phases, leveraging partnerships to establish early wins, whilst also strategically planning for the longer term. 

Strategic partnerships 

We will work in collaboration with a broader range of partners across the UK to deliver on our ambitious objectives. 

These will include: 

Phase 1 

Phase 2 

Offshore Energy: Summary 

Why Offshore Energy 

How will we differentiate and invest? 

Our Partnerships 

Outcomes 

Our portfolio 

We will operate across our priority areas to build a portfolio that balances the UK’s short- and long-term clean energy needs, providing social 

value while generating a return. We will take a long-term view on our investment and development activity while delivering positive outcomes in the near term. 

Our portfolio will be carefully structured to balance risk. We will combine higher risk, high-growth projects with more stable, lower risk investments to ensure both resilience and sustainable returns. We will ensure that our portfolio overall brings a level of additionality, where additionality may refer to clean energy generation, jobs, community involvement or profitable public ownership that would not have occurred in GBE’s absence. 

Our approach is about balancing achieving the various aims we have as a company. We recognise that some activities will drive outcomes in one area but be less strong in others. Presented here is our initial approach, which we will evolve as opportunities are presented and market dynamics shift, reassessing where to allocate our capital and resource to ensure we fulfil the range of outcomes we have committed to. 

GBE Ventures 

Whilst GBE has outlined its core priority areas, we recognise the importance of remaining open to new and emerging opportunities that align with our overarching objectives. The GBE Ventures arm will exist to ensure that we can consider other technologies and projects with clear potential to support achieving our overall mission. 

This could include, but is not limited to, other offshore technologies like tidal energy, or technologies that have a wide strategic benefit like carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS), or hydrogen used for electricity storage. Our Ventures arm will operate centrally and sit outside of our three main business areas, taking minority positions in projects and companies that have high growth potential and a strong UK innovation footprint. 

Energy, Engineered in the UK 

The Statement of Strategic Priorities explains that GBE should focus both on unblocking existing and future supply chain constraints as well as creating well paid, high-quality jobs. Doing so is critical to our mission of public ownership with purpose. 

Our £1 billion Energy, Engineered in the UK (EEUK) programme is designed to unlock industrial opportunities from the energy transition and to ensure the UK develops enduring capabilities in the clean energy technologies of the future. The programme will support technologies across the energy sector, and we will make bold, deliberate choices to invest in building long-lasting technology sovereignty, positioning the UK to lead globally. 

Our programme will deliver a combination of grants and investments, enabling us to respond to market failures and proactively shape markets as a long-term, patient investor. 

Across each Pillar, we will focus on creating and supporting good, skilled jobs across the UK, working closely with GBE’s Trade Union Advisory Group. 

Throughout the delivery of this programme, we will act as a convener, working closely with our strategic partners and taking a ‘Team UK’ approach to solving complex, system-wide challenges. 

Ethical supply chains 

We are embedding ethical standards across GBE, at the board and operational levels, and through the delivery of Energy, Engineered in the UK. We will develop a comprehensive Supply Chain Risk Framework, overseen by the Senior Accountable Director for Ethical Supply Chains, 

Baroness Frances O’Grady. As part of this work, we will engage with industry and civil society to raise standards, explore UK-based alternatives to diversify high-risk supply chains and work internationally to align with leading global partners. 

Delivering in collaboration with others 

Leveraging public investment landscape to deliver priority areas: 

GBE has a distinct, yet complementary role in the wider public investment landscape. We will collaborate with a range of institutions: 

Delivering across our four nations: 

We are the nation’s clean energy champion, and we’re committed to delivering value across all four corners of the UK. Through our activities and via our sponsoring department we will work with the devolved governments on matters of devolved competence to ensure we’re delivering value efficiently while reflecting the needs of local people. 

We will also work with regional public bodies and schemes, including the Scottish Government’s Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES), Ynni Cymru and the Welsh Government Energy Service, and in Northern Ireland Executive. 

Our advisory bodies: 

GBE has a distinct, yet complementary role in the wider public investment landscape. We will collaborate with a range of institutions: 

Collaborating with centres of innovation: 

We will collaborate with partners to support sector-leading innovation. In 2013, Innovate UK created a network of Catapults in high growth industries designed to bridge the gap between government, universities, research institutions and innovative businesses of all sizes, to transform great research rapidly into commercial success to support industry and generate economic growth. 

The success of our people is core to achieving our mission. This success will be underpinned by a clear set of shared values to lead our work and enable us to deliver on our aims. 

Our People  

Our people are at the core of successfully achieving our mission. We are committed to attracting and nurturing a diverse workforce which embodies the very best of the UK’s energy industry.  

We will invest in:  

GBE is proud to be an organisation where people are supported to grow professionally, working on critical issues for people across the country. 

Our Values 

Our values will define who we are, how we work and what we stand for. They will guide our decisions, shape our collaboration and unite our people. 

Our values are: 

We are committed to upholding these values through all our activity, and we will put them at the heart of our everyday business. 

Our company will not just be defined by what our priorities are, but how we choose to deliver them. We will instil a culture of excellence in all our work, setting and meeting high standards and delivering results for our partners and the public in all parts of the UK. 

Our Aberdeen Headquarters 

Aberdeen is a world-class centre for engineering, services and supply chain in the European energy sector. Many Aberdeen-based companies are already driving the energy transition, especially in offshore wind and its future in deep water. 

Scotland in general is a centre for energy expertise. Whilst Aberdeen is exemplar in engineering, supply chain and services, Scotland also excels in professional services, finance and development, with hubs for innovation, technology and thought leadership in clean energy. 

Aberdeen is our corporate backbone, with the majority of our employees located here, forming the strategic driving force of GBE from a modern, dynamic site in the centre of the city. We will explore satellite offices beyond Aberdeen to ensure we can bring the best of Scotland’s energy talent to complement the heart of our activities in Aberdeen.  

Our Culture 

Our culture will be shaped by combining the best of the private and public sectors to undertake our business with the utmost efficiency, professionalism and competence. Our culture will foster innovation, support our values and enable us to achieve our mission. 

Service 

We will operate a culture of service, wholly orienting our activity towards the experience of our customers and partners. We will be responsive, engaged and reliable in our business relationships, combining the best of public and private sector ways of working to deliver tangible benefits for businesses and communities. 

Adaptability 

We will constantly monitor the context to our work, responding to changing circumstances and maintaining alignment with our goals. We will ensure our operations remain modern and fit for purpose, adopting a digital-first approach and maintaining efficiency. 

Accountability 

We will adopt a culture of openness and accountability, where the success of our decisions is regularly evaluated and learnt from, and challenge from staff and partners is recognised, welcomed and acted upon. 

Our promises 

Modern slavery 

There is no place for human rights abuses or modern slavery in supply chains, which is why we are committed to ensuring forced labour does not take place within GBE or its supply chains. We will be a sector leader in the area, tackling modern slavery head on through our Ethical Supply Chain Unit and utilising legislative provisions to bar suppliers that use illegal and immoral practices from bidding for GBE contracts. 

Health and Safety 

GBE will take leadership on safety. We will require explicit commitment from partners and contractors to not just comply with, but exceed, health and safety laws and industry good practice, and we will set up a robust Safety Management System within GBE. Good safety is not just about procedures, so we will instil a culture where all our staff recognise the importance of safety and the consequences of unsafe work. 

Environment and nature 

Biodiversity, sustainability and environmental protection will be firmly embedded in our development decisions. Whether investing in offshore wind, deploying solar on public land or supporting community energy projects, we will seek to deliver nature-positive outcomes and minimise environmental harm. 

Workers’ rights 

Workers’ rights will be a core priority in GBE projects. All our projects will ensure trade union access and encourage trade union recognition. We will promote safe working conditions, secure employment terms and non-discrimination. 

Our governance 

As a publicly owned company and arm’s length body (ALB) of the DESNZ, GBE has a comprehensive and robust governance framework to ensure high-quality delivery and operational independence from DESNZ. GBE’s governance framework draws on best practices from analogous ALBs, international examples of state-backed energy companies and the private sector to: 

Further information on DESNZ/GBE governance arrangements will be included in a published GBE Framework Document. 

Governance roles 

Throughout GBE’s operations, its Shareholder, Board members and Executive Committee have distinct roles, summarised in the table to the right. 

In addition to these roles, GBE’s Chief Executive as accounting officer is responsible for GBE’s day-to-day operations, management and use of public funds, and is accountable to Parliament and the public on these. 

Thresholds for decision-making and spend approvals are developed to balance GBE’s autonomy and agility, with appropriate oversight and steer from the UK government to ensure GBE delivers on its objectives as a publicly owned company. 

Role: Shareholder (Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero) 

Governance responsibilities: As GBE’s sole Shareholder, DESNZ will appoint GBE’s Chair and two Shareholder representatives, and will approve its other non-executive directors (NEDs). 

Role: Board 

Governance responsibilities: To take decisions above agreed Executive Committee thresholds, as well as providing scrutiny and challenge to those decisions within the Committee’s thresholds, ensuring GBE delivers on the strategic aims set out by the Secretary of State in the Statement of Strategic Priorities. 

Responsible for ensuring that GBE has the required controls and risk management processes in place to provide assurance of its delivery. 

Role: Executive Committee 

Governance responsibilities: To take decisions up to agreed thresholds and provide recommendations to the Board where a decision is beyond these thresholds. Responsible for the day-to-day execution of, and adherence to, GBE’s governance framework to ensure delivery of strategic aims within GBE’s Strategic Plan and the SSP. 

Governance Committees 

GBE’s governance structures ensure there is sufficient focus on critical delivery areas and separation of decision-making across commercial and non-commercial activities. 

As a foundational element of GBE’s operations, Health, Safety, Social and Environmental considerations are embedded within all GBE governance committees, decision-making processes and in NED and employee responsibilities at all levels of the business.  

Furthermore, as a public energy company we are committed to absolute transparency and accountability of our progress to our stakeholders and the wider public. 

We are committed to communicating the impact of our activities. We will track and periodically report on our activity, including through use of core metrics across our capacity building, financial, employment and local impact. We will continue to develop and expand this list over time, establishing regular publication cycles and methods where appropriate. 

We will track… 

Activity – number of projects and investments 

Capacity building – scale of projects (including tracking community ownership) 

Employment and local impact – jobs and distribution of projects 

Financials - £s invested and earned 

What we will do next… 

Publish an Impact and Performance Framework to underpin how GBE evaluates and monitors its activities across all of its functional areas. This will include setting out how GBE will ensure additionality across its portfolio, through clearly defining principles of market additionality. 

Publish an Evaluation Strategy sharing GBE’s plan to deliver robust, proportionate and transparent evaluation across its full range of activities. 

We will update our Strategic Plan every two years to ensure it remains strongly aligned with the energy landscape. We will also report annually on our activity as part of our commitment to transparency. 

ALB – Arms Length Body 

A public organisation that works independently from UK government ministers but is still accountable to the UK government. 

BESS – Battery Energy Storage System 

A large battery setup that stores electricity for later use. 

CCUS – Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage 

Technology that captures carbon dioxide from power plants or factories, then either stores it underground or uses it in other processes. 

COD - Commercial Operations Date 

The date on which an asset becomes operational, after the completion of the construction phase. 

CP2030 – Clean Power 2030 

The UK government’s plan for clean energy sources to produce at least 95% of Great Britains’ generation. 

DESNZ – Department for Energy Security and Net Zero 

Ministerial department of the UK government responsible for energy security, protecting billpayers and reaching net zero. 

FLOW – Floating Offshore Wind 

Wind turbines that are built on floating platforms or hybrid substructures, allowing them to be placed in deeper water where the wind is stronger. 

GW – Gigawatt 

A measure of power. One GW is one billion watts, or one thousand MW. Used to describe the size of energy generation and storage capacity. 

Ofgem – Office of Gas and Electricity Markets 

Government regulator for the electricity and downstream natural gas markets in Great Britain’. 

PPA - Power Purchase Agreement 

A long-term contract for the supply of electricity, often with conditions around the time period, price and source of the electricity (i.e. renewable). 

PHES – Pumped Hydro Energy Storage 

A way to store energy by pumping water uphill when there’s extra electricity, then letting it flow back down to generate power when needed. 

Pipeline (Project Pipeline) 

A group of projects that are being planned or built, expected to add to future energy supply. 

Supply Chain 

All the companies and steps involved in making, delivering, and maintaining energy equipment and projects. 

Virtual Power Plant 

A system that links lots of small energy sources (like solar panels and batteries) so they can work together like a single power station. 

1 Gov.uk (2025) ‘Statement of Strategic Priorities to Great British Energy’. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/great-british-energy-statement-of-strategic-priorities/statement-of-strategic-priorities-to-great-british-energy-html  

2 Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (2024) ‘Clean Power 2030 Action Plan’.  Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/clean-power-2030-action-plan  

3 National Energy System Operator (2025) ‘Future Energy Scenarios 2025’. Available at: https://www.neso.energy/publications/future-energy-scenarios-fes  

4 Climate Change Committee (2025) ‘The Seventh Carbon Budget’. Available at: https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/the-seventh-carbon-budget/  

5 Gov.uk (2025) ‘Industrial Strategy’. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/industrial-strategy  

6 Gov.uk (2025) ‘Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan”. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/clean-energy-industries-sector-plan  

7 International Energy Agency (IEA) (2025) ‘Renewables 2025. Analysis and forecasts to 2030’. Available at: https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/76ad6eac-2aa6-4c55-9a55-b8dc0dba9f9e/Renewables2025.pdf