Record renewables auction supports 7,000 jobs and £3bn investment

Record offshore wind auction crowds in £3.4 billion of private investment to build factories, ports and domestic supply chains across the country, with up to £1.1 billion for Scotland alone, boosting ports like Nigg and Aberdeen and Scottish factories

Every £1 of public money invested through the government’s new Clean Industry Bonus leverages £17 from industry in an unprecedented vote of confidence in UK’s industrial strategy and clean energy mission

Investment means factories, ports and supply chains built in Britain, supporting up to 7,000 jobs in the country’s industrial heartlands and most deprived regions, as part of 400,000 new clean energy jobs by 2030

British Gas took 15 months to refund customer £1,500

A woman named Beth Kojder took 15 months to get a final bill and £1,500 refund from British Gas, despite the energy ombudsman ruling in her favor in February 2025. British Gas only offered the money days before her case was to go to small claims court. Beth said the process was “relentless and completely draining,” and called the delay “absurd.” The energy ombudsman, while supporting consumers, is not legally enforceable, and the government is reviewing ways to strengthen it.

Ofgem confirms plans to introduce lower standing charge tariffs

Households will be given more choice in how they pay the fixed costs currently covered by the standing charge under plans put forward by the energy regulator, Ofgem, today (Wednesday 24 September 2025).

Standing charges cover the fixed costs of delivering energy to peoples’ homes and businesses, including the cost of essential maintenance and infrastructure upgrades.

While the regulator is clear that it cannot remove the costs that make up the standing charge from the system and can only move from one part of the bill to another, it has carefully considered how to offer more choice for how customers pay these costs.

Pioneering carbon capture projects ready for construction

500 skilled clean energy jobs will be secured for workers in North Wales and the North West as 2 trailblazing carbon capture projects get ready for construction. 

The UK’s first carbon capture-enabled cement plant at Padeswood, developed by Heidelberg Materials UK, and one of the world’s first full-scale carbon capture-enabled waste-to-energy facilities at Protos in Ellesmere Port, developed by Encyclis, have signed final contracts with government to begin construction. The 2 projects will provide highly skilled opportunities for Britain’s engineers, construction workers, technicians and health and safety experts.  

Cement and waste-to-energy production are carbon-intensive and have no route to cut emissions without carbon capture. As the government accelerates to net zero, Padeswood and Protos will deploy world-leading technologies to remove 1.2 million tonnes of CO₂ annually, forging a cleaner future with secure, long-term jobs for workers and businesses in the cement and waste-to-energy industries.   

The projects will serve as the launch-point for exporting British technology, innovation and expertise abroad, creating economic opportunities for UK-based companies across the world – boosting growth and giving British business a competitive edge in the global green economy.