How to turn Britain into a clean-energy superpower

We must take back control of our energy supply, writes Juergen Maier, chair of GB Energy, which has announced it is ploughing £200m into solar panels on schools and hospitals to cut bills. Without it, we will be left behind in the race to lead in the green arena

Sparking a renewable energy revolution, investing in clean power and creating a national energy champion is more necessary than ever for our prosperity as a country.

It is without doubt the critical mission of our time – but it comes with profound complexities. Britain is sitting on a goldmine of clean energy potential, but for too long we've failed to harness it fully for the benefit of the British people.

By establishing a publicly owned company that works with industry, our aim is to accelerate innovation, attract investment and help the transition to a cleaner, more secure power system as part of the government’s Plan for Change.

But there are three major challenges facing the country that are coming to a head this year.

The first challenge is the price of energy. Bills have skyrocketed in recent years, and consumers and businesses are feeling the pressure like never before. This is because energy prices are tied to wholesale gas prices and gas is the price-setter in the UK wholesale market 97 per cent of the time, according to the innovation charity Nesta.

Renewables are the only solution to bringing down bills and avoiding more energy-price shocks from global markets that we can’t control. This really would mean taking back control of our energy.

One way to do this effectively is by investing in community energy projects, so towns and villages can have a stake in and generate their own energy – and even sell it back to the grid for profit. These funds could then be reinvested into community projects or take money off people’s bills. For example, hydropower technology in the River Dane, which is generating renewable energy for homes and businesses in Congleton, Cheshire.

From the GB Energy side, we’re investing nearly £12m to get local energy projects off the ground – empowering communities to access funding to kick off their own clean energy projects. A further £9.3m will fund renewable schemes in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

We’re also rolling out solar panels on around 200 schools and 200 hospitals across England, backed by £180m, with the aim of helping them save hundreds of millions on their energy bills to reinvest into our vital public services.

All these schemes will create new jobs for local people – from apprentices to seasoned engineers – and support broader supply chains, as solar panel installers and technicians roll them out across the country.

But the second national challenge is defining the role of renewable energy as part of growth and jobs creation.

The UK’s net zero economy has grown by more than 10 per cent since 2023, three times faster than the overall UK economy, according to the Confederation of British Industry – and the wider transition to net zero is expected to support hundreds of thousands of jobs.

It is vital that we help create thousands of new and exciting clean-energy jobs, in locations where they are needed most, like in Aberdeen.

The third challenge is the pace we need to move at, as a country.

Nothing short of a focused, mission-driven approach is needed to deliver an accelerated green technology revolution – but it’s a race against the clock. If we don’t sow the seeds of delivery over the next few years, then we may never regain momentum.

Speeding up development of new technologies is non-negotiable to ensure we benefit from new jobs and investment, and Great British Energy, for one, will play a key role in developing projects where the market is less mature or too risky for the private sector to take on alone.

We must all come together to back emerging technologies that have the potential to transform our energy landscape – floating offshore wind power, tidal power, hydrogen generation and storage, and carbon capture.

But none of this will happen in isolation. Transforming Britain into a clean-energy superpower means rebuilding the supply chains that will underpin this new era of power – creating jobs, revitalising industries, and ensuring the economic benefits reach every part of the country. There’s so much potential in this green industrial revolution.

By bringing together national and local government, industry, and communities, we must seize this once-in-a-generation opportunity to lead the world in clean energy as part of the government’s Plan for Change and mission to become a clean energy superpower. The planet depends on it.