Great British Energy Bringing Renewables To Schools, Hospitals, & Local Governments

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In July 2024, the UK government created Great British Energy, a publicly owned energy company designed to drive clean energy deployment, boost energy independence, create jobs, and ensure UK taxpayers, utility customers, and communities reap the benefits of clean, secure, homegrown energy. Setting up Great British Energy is one of the government’s first steps toward making change in a way that will have an early impact and long term success.

The first project for Great British Energy will invest £200 million to put rooftop solar panels on schools and hospitals throughout the county to help them save hundreds of millions of pounds on their energy bills. Those savings will be reinvested in schools and the National Health Service as part of the government’s Plan for Change, which aims to provide clean renewable energy for the nation’s students and patients. It will also partner with community groups and local governments to fund ambitious local clean power projects across the UK.

About £80 million in funding will support solar installations at 200 schools. Another £100 million will pay for solar panels at 200 NHS sites. There is the potential that those solar resources could sell leftover energy back to the grid. The first panels are expected to be in schools and hospitals by the end of summer 2025, saving schools money for the next academic year. Schools and hospitals in the UK have been burdened with large increases in their energy bills in recent years because of the UK’s dependency on fossil fuels. The NHS is the single biggest public sector energy user, with an estimated annual energy bill of £1.4 billion, an amount that has more than doubled since 2019.

These investments are expected to save British schools and hospitals as much as £400 million on their future energy bills. In addition, local authorities and community energy groups will also receive nearly £12 million to help build local clean energy projects — community-led onshore wind, rooftop solar, and hydropower. A additional £9.3 million will add renewable energy  resources in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said, “With this investment we are backing our teachers and delivering for our young people — saving schools thousands on their bills to reinvest in a brilliant education for each and every child. The installation of solar will not only benefit schools financially, but will support pupils to develop green skills, promoting careers in renewables and supporting growth in the clean energy workforce. With tough choices needed when it comes to public finances, cuts to energy bills is just one part of our continued support for schools, providing better life chances for our children and delivering on the government’s Plan for Change.”

Minister of State for Health Karin Smyth said, “This investment in clean energy will power our NHS while saving the taxpayer millions in energy bills. Crucially, we will divert the savings to where it matters most for patients and staff — frontline services. As part of our Plan for Change, we are improving care for patients, boosting economic growth, and securing our country’s energy supply.”

Currently only about 20% of schools and under 10% of hospitals have solar panels installed, but the technology has huge potential to save money on utility bills. For example, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust installed a solar canopy over the car park at its Wharfedale Hospital site that will reduce carbon emissions by 43.7 tonnes per year and save the trust £75,000 annually. A large project at Hull University Teaching Hospital has 11,000 solar panels which saved it around £250,000 a month last summer. The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust’s new solar farm at a former landfill site is expected to power the entire hospital site with self-generated renewable energy for around 288 days a year — saving around £15–20 million over the next two decades. The question then becomes, who wouldn’t want to make investments with such robust payback performance?

The funding will support the government’s clean power mission as well as helping to rebuild the nation’s public services. It forms Great British Energy’s first local investment, kickstarting the Local Power Plan and ensuring the benefits of this national mission are felt at a local level, with energy security, good jobs, and economic growth.

Renewables For Local Governments

Great British Energy will also provide £10 million in funding for local governments across England to build new clean energy projects in communities, with profits knocking money off locals’ energy bills or being reinvested into the community. The funding will help stimulate investment and create good jobs across the country as part of the government’s Plan for Change to deliver clean power by 2030. Each mayoral strategic authority in England will be invited to apply for a share of the funding, as part of the company’s plans to back local energy projects across the UK.

Existing local energy projects are already benefiting communities and this funding will help projects go further and faster to unlock locally produced renewable energy. For example, the Solar Together Consortium intends to deliver 240 MW of solar capacity across the West Midlands while the solar and battery storage initiative in West Yorkshire expects to deliver 1,500 solar PV and battery storage installations on social housing properties across the region.

Energy Minister Michael Shanks said, “Taking back control of our energy means not only building more solar panels and wind turbines, it also means giving our communities a stake in their own energy supply. We’re backing our metro mayors to bid for a share of £10 million and work with our new publicly owned company Great British Energy to roll out more clean, homegrown power. This could see profits invested back into vital community services and projects, or even money knocked off community buildings bills, giving local services more pounds in their pockets.”

Great British Energy chair Juergen Maier added, “This is the first step in Great British Energy’s work with local communities to help them generate their own energy. Partnering with mayoral authorities will make an immediate impact as we work to roll out clean, homegrown energy projects, crowd in investment and create job opportunities across the country. We will work closely with communities to deliver projects that provide a lasting positive impact for the county both in delivering opportunities and a cleaner future for the UK.”

Backed by a total of £8.3 billion approved by Parliament, Great British Energy will own and invest in clean energy projects across the UK. This will range from supporting community energy — like the local authority and solar schemes announced today — to unlocking significant investment in major clean energy projects that will revitalize the UK’s industrial heartlands with new jobs, while securing Britain’s energy supply. Some would call this a “green new scam.” Others call it smart policy.