The Treasury is drawing up plans to cut the funding for GB Energy in its spending review, according to reports this morning.
The UK Government set up GB Energy as a publicly-owned company - headquartered in Aberdeen - with a mission to invest in the generation and supply of clean energy to accelerate the decarbonisation of the electricity grid.
The company had been promised £8.3billion in taxpayer money over the five-year parliament, but was only given an initial £100million in October’s Budget to cover the first two years.
Ahead of the spending review, the Financial Times reports that ministers are now running the slide rule over whether they can afford to give GB Energy the full £8.3billion amid mounting pressure on government finances and a pivot towards greater defence spending.
One option under consideration by the Treasury is cutting the £3.3billion previously earmarked for GB Energy to fund low-interest loans via local authorities for projects such as solar panels on roofs and shared-ownership wind projects.
Click here to read more in the FT.