Andy Burnham has announced the creation of Great British Grid (GBG), a new public sector entity intended to compete for future electricity transmission projects. The energy department's announcement clarified that GBG will "complement, rather than replace, the existing institutions responsible for Britain’s energy system and the role of existing network operators remains unchanged."
GBG's primary function will be to submit competing bids for upcoming transmission projects, such as those for bringing offshore wind power to cities. This means private firms like National Grid may have to compete against consortia that include GBG, potentially in partnership with private sector construction and finance companies.
GBG will operate as a branch of Great British Energy (GBE) and will initially draw from GBE's funding, which has approximately £4bn remaining for this parliament. For context, the grid upgrade programme for 2026-31 is estimated at about £70bn.
Adam Bell, a consultant at Stonehaven and former energy department official, highlighted that GBG's value lies in providing the state with "perfect information about network costs that it can use to drive performance across privately held networks." This could lead to benefits for consumers and businesses by fostering greater competition.
Additionally, Mr Burnham announced reforms to allow companies to build their own connections to the grid, which has reportedly shown results in Ireland and may accelerate AI datacentre and industrial projects.