GB Energy to use Crown Estate land

BRITAIN'S newly created state-owned energy company, Great British Energy, is to partner with the monarchy's property firm to help speed up the building of offshore wind farms.

The Crown Estate owns the vast majority of Britain's seabed, stretching up to 12 nautical miles from the mainland, and leases parts of it to wind farm operators.

The Government said yesterday that GB Energy will help develop future offshore wind projects, as part of its push to hasten the UK's transition to renewable energy.

It is also designed to reduce the UK's reliance on energy imported from other countries by generating more of its own electricity The Crown Estate estimates the partnership will lead to up to 20-30 gigawatts of new offshore wind developments being leased by 2030, enough to power almost 20 million homes.