DESNZ monthly newsletter

Welcome to our latest monthly newsletter with updates on the key announcements we've made:

??? A message from the Energy Secretary: Ed Miliband reflects on his first 4 weeks at DESNZ.

? Great British Energy: first major partnership between Great British Energy and The Crown Estate.

?? Mission Control: Chris Stark appointed to head new Mission Control.

?? Onshore Wind: removal of the de facto ban on onshore wind in England.

?? Allocation Round 6: record breaking fund for clean energy in Britain.

?? Solar: taking action to triple UK solar capacity.

?? Plus: other news and your views wanted.

A message from the Energy Secretary: ???

We’re less than a month into the new government and we have wasted no time in kicking off our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower.

In our first week we lifted the onshore wind ban, approved new solar power and set up a Mission Control centre, led by Chris Stark, to drive progress on our 2030 clean power goal.

We’ve introduced the Great British Energy Bill in Parliament, paving the way for a publicly owned energy company to help build the clean energy we need and generate wealth for our country. I’m absolutely delighted that we’ve already announced GB Energy’s first partnership with The Crown Estate and appointed Juergen Maier as its chair.

Earlier this week we expanded the budget for the upcoming Contracts for Difference auction to unlock investment in clean energy and held the first meetings of our Onshore Wind Taskforce and Clean Energy Mission Board.

The government is acting at pace to deliver on our clean energy mission to reduce our dependence on volatile fossil fuels. Our mission will boost energy security, protect billpayers, create good jobs and help tackle the climate crisis.

It’s been a busy few weeks – and we are just getting started.

Great British Energy: ?

Who: The Prime Minister and Energy Secretary announced the next steps to deliver Great British Energy, which will be owned by the British people, for the British people, backed with ￡8.3 billion to own and invest in clean power projects across the UK.

What: a new unprecedented partnership between Great British Energy and The Crown Estate was announced, which has the potential to leverage up to ￡60 billion of private investment into the UK’s drive for energy independence – speeding up new offshore wind projects to power millions of homes.

The announcement came as we published details of the company’s objective. Read its founding statement here.

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

Where: headquartered in Scotland, it will own, manage, and operate clean energy projects across the country, generating cheap homegrown electricity across the UK.

When: 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 introduced in Parliament last week.

Why: “Great British Energy comes from a simple idea - that the British people should own and benefit from our natural resources. Investing in clean power is the route to end the UK’s energy insecurity, and Great British Energy will be essential in this mission” said Energy Secretary Ed Miliband.

Mission Control: ??

New mission; New face: former chief executive of the Climate Change Committee, Chris Stark, was appointed to lead a new control centre tasked with delivering the government’s clean power mission by 2030.

First of its kind: under Chris Stark’s leadership, a top team of energy experts will break down barriers and accelerate the transition towards clean, homegrown power.

The way forward: the Energy Secretary asked the ESO to provide advice on the pathway towards the 2030 ambition.

Onshore Wind: ??

72 hours: within three days of coming into office, we removed the de facto ban on onshore wind in England, which had previously meant a single objection to a wind turbine prevented it being built.

Cheaper; Cleaner power: onshore wind is one of the cheapest forms of electricity generation in the UK today. That’s why we’re committed to onshore wind energy by 2030.

But: under the ban, in place for nearly a decade, only two onshore wind turbines were built in England and the pipeline of projects shrank by 90%.

Now: we will consult on bringing large onshore wind projects back into the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project regime.

And: we have established an Onshore Wind Taskforce to tackle the depleted pipeline of projects and help us radically increase onshore wind deployment to meet our 2030 decarbonisation ambitions.

Contracts for Difference Allocation Round 6: ??

Record budget: Energy Secretary Ed Miliband announced the budget for this year’s renewable energy auction is being increased by ￡500 million to over ￡1.5 billion, helping build new green infrastructure as part of the mission to deliver clean power by 2030.

New milestone: this is an increase of over 50 per cent on previous budget and will support high quality jobs in industrial heartlands and coastal communities, while protecting household bills from volatile fossil fuel prices.

More detail: following the increase, the Allocation Round 6 budget includes: ￡1.1 billion for offshore wind, an uplift of ￡300 million … ￡185 million for established technologies such as onshore wind and solar, an uplift of ￡65 million … ￡270 million for emerging technologies such as floating offshore wind and tidal, an uplift of ￡165 million.

Solar: ??

Accelerating solar: Energy Secretary Ed Miliband took immediate action to boost the role solar projects play in the UK by consenting 1.3GW of solar, powering the equivalent of almost 400,000 homes.

How much? that’s more solar capacity in one week than all previous solar projects consented by the Department and its predecessors combined.

Rooftop revolution: he also confirmed rooftop solar power panels on new homes and buildings will, where appropriate, play an important role delivering cleaner energy and lower bills to millions of households and businesses.

Ask the experts: We have also reconvened the Solar Taskforce to explore how else Government and industry can help us treble solar power by 2030

Other news: ??

Ministerial Portfolios confirmed (30 July 2024).

Energy Secretary convenes COP leaders past, present and future to offer UK support and leadership in responding to the climate crisis (26 July 2024).

Minister Fahnbulleh visits Octopus Energy (26 July 2024).

Why Energy Secretary Ed Miliband will lead international negotiations at COP29 (26 July 2024).

Lord Hunt visits Biggleswade Wind Farm (24 July 2024).

Minister McCarthy visits Osney Lock Hydro (22 July 2024).

Minister Shanks joins Energy Secretary Ed Miliband on visit to Little Cheyne Court Wind Farm (12 July 2024).

Your views wanted: ??

Integrating greenhouse gas removals in the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (closes 11:59pm on 15 August 2024).

Autumn Budget 2024 - Stakeholder Representation (closes 11:59pm on Tuesday 10 September 2024).