Government announces GB Grid to speed up electricity network delivery

Government has today unveiled plans for a new investment vehicle, Great British Grid (GB Grid), which will invest in electricity networks. As the first publicly owned player in electricity networks since privatisation, it will compete for - and co-invest in - transmission projects. The vehicle will sit within Great British Energy (GB Energy) and be funded through the existing £4-billion budget.

GB Grid's primary purpose is to work with network companies to accelerate grid connections and bring down energy bills, in the context of rising costs to upgrade networks as the system decarbonises and decentralises. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has underscored this intention with a new goal to bring energy costs down within ten years to be in line with other nations in Europe. The secondary objective is to provide greater public oversight of network planning, as GB Grid will have access to information on the costs of upgrading grid infrastructure and therefore be able to hold the private sector accountable.

Alongside this, Government has also committed to offering customers the opportunity to build their own grid connections. Whilst the detail of these self-build solutions is yet to be confirmed, the ongoing demand connections reform process is examining options such as a class exemption, "build and transfer", and an independent Transmission Owner (iTO) licence.

techUK view

Matthew Evans, COO of techUK, says: "Grid connection delays and sky-high electricity bills are by far the largest hurdles for UK data centre development in the UK, so any action from Government to address them is welcome. We have long championed self-build grid connections as low-hanging fruit to clear the backlog and reduce system costs, and it is positive to see GB Grid's focus on injecting competition in electricity networks. Digital infrastructure must remain a priority, alongside a continued effort to deploy tech like AI to make better use of our existing grid assets.

"While the details remain to be seen, the ambition is well placed. Bringing energy costs down in line with other nations in Europe will be vital to reindustrialisation - both for traditional and new growth sectors. The simplest, most effective way Government can achieve this is by moving levies from electricity bills to general taxation and now is the time for such decisive action."

Katie Davies

Head of Energy and Infrastructure Policy, techUK

Matthew Evans

Chief Operating Officer & Director of Markets, techUK

Jade van Zuydam

Junior Programme Manager - Energy and Utilities, techUK

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