GBE’s Strategic Plan is to deliver at least 15 GW of generation and storage by 2030 – enough to power nearly 10 million homes – and to help mobilise £15bn in private capital through partnerships and co-investment. GBE also pledges support for more than 1,000 local and community energy projects.

The company expects its activities to support over 10,000 jobs, including in areas transitioning from oil and gas. GBE frames this workforce commitment as integral to building an industrial base capable of delivering the UK’s long-term energy strategy, especially in manufacturing, construction and engineering sectors.

To achieve these goals, GBE identifies three priority investment categories:

• Onshore energy – investments in onshore wind, solar, storage and grid-support technologies aimed at reducing constraints and strengthening system stability.  
• Offshore energy – driving momentum in the deepwater floating offshore wind sector and associated supply chains by taking on risk and investments required to unlock growth in the sector.  
• GBE local – a programme to ensure local communities benefit directly from clean energy assets sited in their area, including through shared revenue models or local-energy solutions.

The Plan also provides further detail on the £1bn ‘Energy – Engineered in the UK’ initiative, designed to reinforce domestic supply chains and improve industrial resilience. The programme, due for formal launch later this month, aims to support component manufacturing, port development, skills training and innovation infrastructure needed to underpin high volumes of renewables deployment.

Major grid investment programmes to meet surging electricity demand  

Meanwhile, Ofgem has announced £28bn of funding, including £17.8bn for gas networks and £10.3bn for the national electricity transmission system. The regulator says the electricity investment is intended to improve reliability, accelerate electrification and reduce constraint costs by increasing the ability to move power efficiently from generation sources to centres of demand.

The new funding package feeds into an estimated £90bn programme planned across gas and electricity networks by 2031. Ofgem argues that expanding the grid now is more cost-effective than delaying. Although the upgrade programme is expected to add £108 to the average annual bill by 2031, savings from reduced gas imports and avoided constraints are forecast to offset most of this. The regulator expects the net increase to ratepayers to be around £30 a year, falling over time as assets earn returns and consumers benefit from lower system costs.

‘This is not investment at any price,’ said Ofgem CEO Jonathan Brearley. ‘Every pound must deliver value for consumers, and we will hold network companies accountable for delivering on time and on budget.’

Alongside the regulator’s plans, energy companies have unveiled their own large-scale network programmes.

SSE announced a £33bn five-year investment package last month, including £22bn for expanding transmission capacity in the north of Scotland. Upgrades aim to eliminate bottlenecks, integrate new renewables and reinforce long-distance power flows. A further £5bn will upgrade SSE’s distribution networks in northern Scotland and central southern England, supporting electrification and enabling the connection of low-carbon technologies in these regions.

The remaining £6bn will go into renewables and flexible generation projects, including progress on Dogger Bank, set to become the world’s largest offshore wind farm when fully operational in 2027. (The company announced last month that all 277 monopiles and transition pieces were installed.)

ScottishPower has set out plans to invest up to £12bn in transmission upgrades across central and southern Scotland between 2026 and 2031. Its programme includes 12 new substations, 450 km of circuit upgrades and major reinforcement of overhead and underground lines. The investment also includes two subsea high-voltage links – Eastern Green Link 1 and 4, with a combined 4 GW capacity – that will serve as new ‘electrical superhighways’ transporting power from Scotland’s renewable resources to the national grid in England. The company estimates the programme will cost around £12.07 per year per customer, although long-term system savings are expected to significantly exceed the increase.

Previously, ScottishPower’s parent company Iberdrola announced in September that it plans to invest £24bn in the UK’s electricity transmission and distribution network to 2028.