What would ‘GB Energy’ mean for Scotland’s green economy?

There are common themes running through all the manifestos, and one of them is green energy.

With the exception of Reform, which does not buy into the drive towards net zero greenhouse gas emissions, the others see renewable power as a big and ripe economic opportunity, with different approaches to tapping it.

Labour makes a big play of setting up GB Energy. According to Scottish leader Anas Sarwar, this will be “a publicly-owned clean power company, to create good jobs and cut bills for good. And will be headquartered here in Scotland”.

A more precise location is yet to be given but he hinted at his manifesto launch that the decision could be connected to constituency results on the morning of 5 July.

If this sounds like an energy supplier, to provide your home with electricity and gas more cheaply than big, profitable, private companies, then think again. The route to cutting your bill is not as clear as the promise sounds.

This is what the manifesto says:

“GB Energy will partner with industry and trade unions to deliver clean power by co-investing in leading technologies; will help support capital-intensive projects; and will deploy local energy production to benefit communities across the country. To support this, Labour will capitalise GB Energy with £8.3bn over the next parliament.”

In other words, it will join with private sector investors to build and own renewable energy production. And at that scale of funding, it is unlikely to be the lead developer.

The manifesto goes on to say that this publicly-owned investment fund is intended to go big, to build up supply chains in Britain, to invest in newer tech such as hydrogen. And also to get local:

“GB Energy will partner with energy companies, local authorities, and co-operatives to install thousands of clean power projects, through a combination of onshore wind, solar and hydropower projects.”

The target is for 20,000 such projects. Already, GB Energy’s remit is looking stretched and it’s some way from getting started. That £8.3bn over five years is expected to do some heavy lifting.