Beyond Cream Teas: The South West’s Role in UK Securonomics

11 November 2024

Strengthening the UK’s energy security through regional growth and innovation

Dr Steve Freeman joined the Great South West (GSW) team in Parliament yesterday, where they launched a refreshed version of the GSW Clean Energy Prospectus and shared their Independent Economic Review with key national stakeholders.

The event brought together Parliamentarians, government ministers and officials, energy developers, innovators, investors and trade bodies to showcase the region’s capabilities in delivering a clean, secure and sustainable supply of energy to the UK.

It was a timely intervention that resonated strongly with MPs in attendance. The Clean Energy Prospectus set out significant investment opportunities across offshore wind, floating wind, nuclear, geothermal, tidal, solar and hydrogen. The Economic Review reinforced how these strengths align with the UK Government’s securonomics agenda – a strategy to strengthen economic resilience, national security and energy independence through targeted industrial growth.

Securonomics in action: The South West advantage

Securonomics is built on a set of core principles that reflect the need for a more strategic, partnership-driven approach to growth:

• Strategic investment in sectors essential for national resilience: Clean energy, semiconductors, defence and infrastructure.
• Energy security: Domestic renewable generation, reduced reliance on volatile global fossil fuel markets and diversification of supply.
• Resilient supply chains: Minimise dependence on single countries or vulnerable global networks.
• Active industrial strategy: Government working in partnership with industry to steer growth in key areas rather than leaving it entirely to market forces.
• Place-based growth: Investing in regional strengths, like the South West’s offshore wind and defence expertise, to spread economic security and create high-value jobs across the UK.

The South West’s clean growth contribution

The GSW Economic Review highlights that the South West contributes £81.3 billion in Gross Value Added (GVA) to the UK economy and supports over 2.3 million jobs, making it one of the country’s most productive regional economies.

The Review also identifies £45 billion in investment potential across clean energy, infrastructure, digital technology and defence innovation. These sectors together could boost regional productivity by up to 12% by 2035.

In clean energy alone, the GSW Prospectus estimates that coordinated public and private investment could unlock:

• Over £16 billion in new clean energy projects across the South West by 2040.
• 30,000 new skilled jobs in offshore wind, hydrogen, nuclear and advanced engineering.
• A regional contribution of up to £4 billion GVA annually to the UK’s Net Zero economy.

“With an abundance of natural resources and a wealth of innovation capital, the South West has harnessed its cross-sector partnerships to generate £81.3 billion in GVA for the UK economy,” said Dame Judith Petts DBE, Chair of the GSW Clean Energy Programme Board. She also noted that this achievement, “Was not built by selling cream teas.”

A cornerstone of the UK’s clean energy future

Both the Clean Energy Prospectus and Economic Review are advancing the government’s clean energy ambitions through offshore wind and multi-sector clean technologies. The South West possesses significant natural resources, deep technical expertise and the strategic foresight to deliver this ambition at pace. This ability to accelerate deployment directly supports national priorities around energy security, decarbonisation and industrial growth – elevating the region’s credentials as a cornerstone of the UK’s clean energy future.