The prime minister and energy secretary have announced a new partnership between Great British Energy – a new, publicly owned energy company introduced by the government, and The Crown Estate, which has the potential to leverage up to £60bn to private investment into the UK’s drive for energy independence.

The government aims to put the Great British Energy at the government’s mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower.

“The company will be owned by the British people, for the British people,” the government claimed, backed with £8.3 bn of new money over the course of the new Parliament to “own and invest in clean power projects in regions across the UK.”

It comes soon after the Energy Secretary scrapped the ban on onshore wind and unblocked the production of cheap solar energy.

Great British Energy’s first major partnership will be between two national institutions as it joins with the Crown Estate.

With a £16bn portfolio of land and seabed, the Crown Estate operates independently and returns its profits to the government, bringing long-established expertise to the partnership, and new investment and borrowing power recently announced by government.

To the partnership, Great British Energy is set to bring the critical strategic industrial policy that the state aims to provide, as well as its own ability to invest.

The Crown Estate estimates this partnership will lead to up to 20-30GW of new offshore wind developments reaching seabed lease stage by 2030, enough power for the equivalent of almost 20 million homes.

The partnership will boost Britain’s energy independence by investing in homegrown power, and with accompanying reforms to policy, cut the time it takes to get offshore wind projects operating and delivering power to homes by up to half.

This partnership will see the public sector taking on a new role undertaking additional early development work for offshore wind projects.

This will ensure that future offshore wind development has lower risk for developers, enabling projects to build out faster after leasing and crowding in private sector investment.

It will also help boost new technologies such as carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, wave and tidal energy.

It comes as the department for energy security and Net Zero has published details of the company’s objective. Families across the country have suffered during the cost-of-living crisis, as energy prices squeezed UK residents.

Great British Energy is part of the government’s plans for clean power by 2030, so families and businesses are never left vulnerable again to spiking global prices.

The prime minister has confirmed that Great British Energy will be headquartered in Scotland and will back energy generation projects in the UK, bringing profits back to the British people.

The UK Government is in discussions with the Scottish Government and Crown Estate Scotland on how Great British Energy could help to support new development and investment within Scotland.

The government is already legislating to give both Great British Energy and The Crown Estate the powers they need to rapidly deliver, with two Bills being introduced in Parliament today.

The energy secretary also confirmed that leading captain of industry Juergen Maier, former CEO of Siemens UK, will be the Chair of Great British Energy, driving forward this new company.

“My government is laser focused on delivering change, to make people better off,” prime minister Keir Starmer said.

“This innovative partnership between Great British Energy and the Crown Estate is an important step toward our mission for clean energy by 2030, and bringing down energy bills for good.

“This agreement will drive up to £60 billion in investment into the sector, turbocharging our country toward energy security, the next generation of skilled jobs, and lowering bills for families and business.

“My mission led government is rolling up our sleeves to deliver for Britain.”

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Great British Energy will have five key functions.

First is regarding project development, which involves leading projects through development stages to speed up their delivery, whilst capturing more value for the British public.

Next is project investment, which includes investing in energy projects alongside the private sector, helping to get them off the ground.

The project will also introduce a local power plan which will support local energy generation projects through work with local authorities, combined authorities and communities.

Further, the partnership will build supply chains across the UK to boost energy independence and create jobs.

Lastly, the government will introduce Great British Nuclear, which will explore how the energy project and nuclear will work together and function best.

The Great British Energy Bill, which is being introduced in the House of Commons, will support the creation of the new publicly owned company by setting out its objectives and ensuring it has access to necessary finances.

The Secretary of State will also have the ability to set Great British Energy’s strategic priorities to ensure it remains focussed on the government’s aim to accelerate the delivery of homegrown clean energy power in the UK.

The Crown Estate Bill will modernise The Crown Estate by removing outdated restrictions on its activities so it can, for example, invest in digital technologies that will further enhance its award-winning spatial mapping of the seabed.

The Bill will also expand The Crown Estate’s investment powers and grant borrowing capabilities, unlocking significant investment in public infrastructure.

This includes essential marine investment to help support the acceleration and growth of offshore wind capacity by 2030 alongside supporting the regeneration of urban centres, such as its most recent example of a new Life Science partnership in central Oxford and nature recovery across its portfolio.

These reforms will secure the continued future success of the Crown Estate business and maximise the returns it generates for the public.