"The energy transition will be at the heart of the next Labour government’s agenda, if we are privileged enough to serve, not just as one of Keir Starmer’s 5 missions for government in its own right but also as a crucial contributor – via our Green Prosperity Plan – to Labour’s first and overarching mission, which is to revive our economy and achieve the highest sustained growth in the G7.
I’d like to take a few minutes today to set out a bit more about what this mission entails, and what it might mean for the East of England in particular.
Our contention is that the UK has huge advantages in clean energy – from innovative companies and entrepreneurs to natural endowments like our coastline.
The East of England is a perfect example. From its highly skilled nuclear power workforce to its port communities, and from its world-leading research and scientific base to the growing offshore wind industry, the East of England has all the attributes it needs to be a major player in the clean economy of the future.
But we are not making the most of these advantages. Too often we miss out on the opportunities for good jobs and economic growth that the transition to net zero promises, and leave ourselves exposed to greater risk, as we saw so starkly in the energy crisis that began in 2022.
For the sake of people’s bills and for the sake of our national energy and economic security, to say nothing about climate change, we need a clean energy sprint.
Hence Labour’s key ambition for a decarbonised power system by 2030, driving gas rapidly to the margins of the system and reducing the exposure of our power system to the price of gas which we cannot control.
This is a deliberately ambitious goal, and we are under no illusions about that. Quadrupling offshore wind, trebling solar, doubling onshore wind, slashing grid connection times, restructuring the planning system, and investing in day-to-day flexibility and long-term energy storage.
None of this is easy, but the prize is potentially huge – provided the target is backed up by an industrial strategy that not only helps you get there, but delivers the benefits for the economy and local communities that people all over the country desperately want to see.
That’s why we have committed to establishing Great British Energy, a new publicly owned energy champion to invest in clean energy alongside the private sector, particularly in leading edge technologies, and to a National Wealth Fund, to invest in key industrial projects, including port infrastructure, so that we can have capture more of the supply chain when we’re developing things like floating offshore wind.
Just last week I saw a report from the Renewable Energy Association and Freeport East, which discussed plans for a green hydrogen hub and manufacturing facilities on site at the port.
Its easy to see how our new institutions could become significant partners for firms in the East of England, in ports, in offshore wind, and indeed in local energy projects, through the Local Power Plan which will be tasked with directly supporting community and local authority owned energy assets, which will directly benefit local communities either via shared ownership or through benefits flowing through local authorities.
We estimate that between these investments and the clean energy transition and our accompanying plan to retrofit 5 million homes across the country, our proposals could create up to 56,000 new jobs in the East of England.
I want to stress that the great majority of investment we need will come from the private sector. That is why our reforms to grid, planning, and regulation are designed with the sector to crowd private investment into our energy system. And our new institutions, Great British Energy and the National Wealth Fund, are designed to leverage the power of public finance.
Of course, Britain cannot expect to lead in every sector, but we are unapologetic about our aim to ensure that the British people get as much value as possible, in terms of jobs and wealth, from this great net zero transition that we need to undertake as a society.
A report published yesterday by the IPPR think tank on manufacturing as the cornerstone of a competitive green economy estimated that in the East of England, six travel to work areas have a regional comparative advantage in green manufacturing – Cambridge, Chelmsford, Clacton, Great Yarmouth, Peterborough and Lincoln.
We know that this region already has many of the skills, strengths and natural attributes needed to thrive in the green economy. With Labour’s Green Prosperity Plan and Keir Starmer’s mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower, the East of England can be at the heart of our national economy’s much needed revival.
If we get this right, that will mean lower bills, protection from future energy crisis, and new jobs, growth and shared prosperity across this region."