UK government announces publicly owned Great British Grid to invest in network

LONDON, Sept 29 — The British government on Tuesday announced Great British Grid (GBG), a new publicly owned body within Great British Energy that will invest in electricity network infrastructure, saying it will help speed up the delivery of grid projects.

The government said GBG's initial start-up costs will be covered by Great British Energy's existing budgets. Because grid projects take a long time to develop, the long-term budget for the expanded remit will be considered in a future spending review, it said.

According to the government, GBG will invest public capital alongside private investment in network projects across the country. The government said GBG will work alongside existing network operators to help accelerate projects and increase competition.

The government said the role of existing network operators remains unchanged. Ofgem remains the independent economic regulator, and the National Energy System Operator (NESO) remains responsible for operating, planning and coordinating the electricity system.

The government said it does not expect GBG's role to affect existing project commitments under Ofgem licences that are in force or in negotiation.

The government also said it will bring forward reforms to expand self-build connections. These would let developers and businesses build their own grid connections where appropriate, rather than waiting for network companies to build them. The government said similar reforms in Ireland cut connection times by up to 11 months.

The government said it will also speed up competitive tendering for transmission projects, which would allow a wider range of organisations, including GBG, to compete to deliver new network infrastructure.

The government said it is already working with NESO and Ofgem to reform the connections system. That work includes overhauling the connections queue and removing more than 300 GW of speculative capacity.