Labour’s plan to make Britain a clean energy superpower will support up to half a million jobs in the next seven years

Analysis shows that Labour’s mission to build up Britain’s homegrown clean power resources will support the energy sector’s creation of over 200,000 direct jobs and up to 300,000 indirect jobs in the next seven years, including roles for skilled energy engineers, construction workers, technicians, and service sector jobs.

Labour’s plan will see new jobs across Britain’s world-leading offshore wind industry in Scotland and the East Coast, hydrogen in the North-West and Teesside, nuclear power in the South-East, and solar power in the South and Midlands.

Jobs will include plumbers, electricians, engineers, and technicians for new projects supported by the party’s National Wealth Fund, which includes eight new battery factories, six clean steel plants, nine renewable-ready ports, the world’s largest hydrogen electrolyser plant and net-zero industrial clusters in every region of the country.

In Scotland alone, Labour will double the number of jobs in low carbon sectors by creating over 50,000 new jobs in Scotland’s clean power sector. Driving forward with this plan to create a clean power system will save Scottish households £8.4bn over the rest of this decade - equivalent to cutting £475 off bills for every family in Scotland every year to 2030.

Labour has pledged to tear down the barriers to clean power which have been laid down by the Conservatives, from blocks in the planning system to neglecting investment in national port infrastructure.

Labour’s plan will free the UK from reliance on fossil fuel dictators like Vladimir Putin, as well as saving UK households money with cheaper energy bills.

The creation of GB Energy will increase Britain’s supply of clean, home-grown energy and unleash our potential further with thousands of good, well-paid jobs across our country.

Ed Miliband MP, Labour’s Shadow Climate Change Secretary, said:

“Labour will make Britain a clean energy superpower- not only so we can slash energy bills and deliver energy security- but also so we can rebuild Britain’s industrial heartlands with high quality jobs.

“For too long, the Conservatives and SNPs have let over countries get ahead in the race for the green jobs of the future. Britain can win this global race- building new opportunities for our construction industry, our engineers, and our electricians- but we are being let down by a Conservative government that is left behind in the changing room.

“Only Labour can make Britain a clean energy superpower to cut bills and create good jobs, with our plan for a clean power system by 2030, and with GB Energy, our publicly-owned energy company to produce homegrown power for the British people.”

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Notes

A Labour Government will:

• Act fast to make Britain a clean energy superpower, leading the world with 100% clean power by 2030
• Establish Great British Energy a new home-grown, publicly-owned national champion in clean power generation.
• Create a National Wealth Fund to build British industry and ensure the British people will benefit from the long-term return that investments produce, with investments in gigafactories, clean steel plants, renewable-ready ports, green hydrogen and energy storage.
• Upgrade nineteen million cold, draughty homes so that families have cheaper energy bills and warm, future-proofed homes.

To achieve this target, by 2030 a Labour government would:

• Quadruple offshore wind with an ambition of 55GW by 2030;
• Accelerate the pioneering floating offshore wind technology by fast-tracking at least 5GW of capacity;
• More than triple solar power to over 50GW;
• More than double our onshore wind capacity to 35GW;
• Double down on green hydrogen, with 10GW of production - twice the government’s target - for use particularly in flexible power generation, storage, and industrial processes like green steel;
• Ensure the long-term security of nuclear power - getting projects at Sizewell and Hinkley over the line, extending the lifetime of existing plants and backing new nuclear and Small Modular Reactors;
• Invest in carbon capture and storage and hydrogen to ensure that there is sufficient zero-emission back-up power and storage for extended periods without wind or sun, while maintaining a strategic reserve of backup gas power stations to guarantee security of supply;
• Unleash marine and tidal power;
• Reform planning laws and build out the grid

Against the backdrop of Labour’s mission to secure the highest sustained growth in the G7 with good jobs and productivity growth in every part of the country, the party are challenging the government match the ambition, talent and hard work of people across Britain, saying their plan will give communities written off by the Tories the backing to make their full contribution.

The Conservatives and SNP have been severely criticised for their failure to deliver good jobs in clean energy industries, after decades of broken promises. Since President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act was passed last year, the USA has created nearly ten times more clean energy jobs in just seven months than the UK has in seven years. 

The European Union has had their own response to the US Inflation Reduction Act with their Net-Zero Industry Act, and Labour are warning Britain will be left behind in the race for new industries and economic growth. The Institute for Directors recently called for a UK version of the Inflation Reduction Act to “incentivise much-needed green investment.”