Making Britain a Clean Energy Superpower

Debate between Harriet Cross and Michael Shanks

Friday 26th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Michael Shanks]

My hon. Friend has raised two important points. To answer the first, GB Energy will invest in a range of projects and will have a key stake in them, delivering a return for the British taxpayer. There will be a range of projects, in some of which we will certainly have the controlling stake, and some of which we might help to get over the line, but in every single project there will be a return for the British taxpayer.

My hon. Friend’s second point is vital. I have been in this role for only a couple of weeks, but every meeting I have comes back to this question of connection, storage, and how we make sure that renewables can be delivered throughout periods in which there is electricity demand. Storage will be important, and GB Energy will have a part to play in that, as well as in answering wider questions about grid and network.

Let me return to the point about ownership by foreign countries. British waters are home to one of the largest offshore floating wind farms in the world, Kincardine, off the coast of Aberdeen. It is a good example of the problem with the current model. The foundations were made in Spain, the turbines were installed in the Netherlands, and only then was it towed into British waters. Our view is that British taxpayers should own some of that infrastructure, which is why yesterday the Prime Minister and the Energy Secretary announced an exciting new partnership between GB Energy and the Crown Estate to unleash billions of pounds of investment in clean power.

This partnership will enable two national institutions to work together for the benefit of the British people. As well as building supply chains, GB Energy will develop and own power projects in every part of the United Kingdom—in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It will be capitalised with £8.3 billion over the lifetime of this Parliament, money that can be invested in wind, solar, nuclear, tidal and other technologies, and it will deliver profits to the British people, playing a vital role in delivering the new jobs that we need.

[Harriet Cross (Gordon and Buchan) (Con)]

The Government’s plans to ban new oil and gas licences have been criticised by business leaders, unions and community groups throughout Scotland. As a fellow Scottish Member, will the Minister say whether or not he supports his Government’s plans, which it has been said will put up to 90,000 jobs across Scotland at risk?

[Michael Shanks]

We made it very clear during the election that the future of the North sea is incredibly important, but that future is a transition away from the oil and gas industries that we see at present. The Conservatives also need to recognise that the North sea is a declining basin. We have lost thousands of jobs there over the past decade, and that will continue in the future unless we accelerate our transition in the North sea to the clean energy jobs of the future. It is not good enough to bury our heads in the sand and pretend that this problem does not exist. We need a plan to give people secure, long-term, sustainable jobs for the future, rather than thinking that we can just carry on with business as usual.