Great British Energy has more than doubled the list of parts that UK factories can seek grant funding to make through its £300 million Supply Chain Fund for offshore wind and electricity networks. On 2 October 2026 the publicly owned company added 17 components, taking the eligible list from 12 to 29. The fourth application round is open and closes at 5pm on 10 December 2026.
The new entries reach further into the supply chain. On the wind side they include the jackets that support turbines on the seabed, plus generators, gearboxes and power converters. On the grid side they cover high-voltage bushings, converter valves and parts for HVDC converter stations and HVAC substations.
How the fund works
The fund opened on 11 December 2025 and offers capital grants of up to £300 million in total for new or expanded factories anywhere in the UK, subject to Windsor Framework rules in Northern Ireland. Money can only go on capital costs such as buildings, production lines and linked infrastructure, not running costs or land, and it must be drawn down between April 2026 and March 2030. Grid components must be suitable for Great Britain’s transmission network at 132kV or above, with an exception for HVAC cables rated at 66kV.
Applicants have to show the project would not go ahead in the UK, or not at the same scale and speed, without the grant. Updated guidance published alongside the expansion says GBE expects average grant intensity across the fund of around 15% of a project’s eligible costs, so most of the money is meant to come from private investors. Applications asking for a smaller share are likely to score better on value for money, although GBE says smaller firms may need more support. On our own arithmetic, £300 million at an average of 15% would correspond to roughly £2 billion of eligible project costs; GBE’s own stated expectation is that the fund will mobilise more than £1 billion of public and private investment.
The fund sits within GBE’s wider £1 billion Energy Engineered in the UK programme. The guidance notes that recipients are not required to use UK inputs or labour in their own supply chains.
Why components matter
GBE says demand for offshore wind and network equipment is growing faster than factories can supply it, which leads to bottlenecks, longer lead times, higher costs and delayed projects. The expanded list is based on its latest market intelligence on which parts are most constrained. It has also opened a process for manufacturers and trade bodies to submit evidence for adding further components, and says the list will stay under review.
What happens next
Applications go through eligibility, readiness and full assessment stages, followed by a quarterly portfolio review after each round deadline. The fund could close before 10 December if the money is fully allocated. No awards from the expanded list have been announced yet.
What it means for households
There is no direct effect on bills. The aim is to reduce the risk that shortages of turbine and grid parts slow the build-out needed for Clean Power 2030, and to place more of that manufacturing in the UK. How much difference it makes will depend on which factories are funded and how quickly they start production.