National Wealth Fund to drive more than £100 billion into the UK economy

The National Wealth Fund has today set out its ambition to drive more than £100 billion of investment into the companies, infrastructure and supply chains that will unlock growth, creating a more prosperous, cleaner, greener and resilient future for the UK.

In its new strategic plan, published today, the Fund sets out how its investments will create and support more than 200,000 jobs, accelerate the pathway to clean energy by saving 500 million tonnes of CO2e GHG emissions by 2050ⁱⁱⁱ, and ultimately deliver a positive return for the taxpayer.  

The National Wealth Fund will continue to support the government’s growth and clean energy missions, with its activity rooted in three new strategic ambitions:  

1. Unlocking growth opportunities on the pathway to clean energy by accelerating investment into the most critical projects, technologies and industries that enable decarbonisation and have the potential to lower bills for households and businesses.  

2. Accelerating place-based investment across all four nations of the UK by providing financing and expert advice to regionally significant projects through the Regional Project Accelerator and investing in the enabling infrastructure to support regional growth. 

3. Strengthening sovereign and strategic capabilities by investing in growth opportunities underpinning the UK’s national security, enabling UK leadership in industries of the future, and backing domestic supply chains for growth and resilience. This includes critical minerals, defence, green steel and AI. 

To achieve these ambitions, the National Wealth Fund will be adopting a more targeted approach, focusing on Industrial Strategy sectors and Infrastructure Strategy priorities, where it can make a real difference. The following 10 sectors have been identified where the Fund expects to have the most catalytic opportunities over the next five years: 

• Ports & supply chains*
• Carbon capture, usage and storage*
• Hydrogen*
• Battery manufacturing & the electric vehicle supply chain*
• Steel*
• Power grid
• Energy storage
• Nuclear
• Transport infrastructure
• Place-based regeneration

*In these sectors, the National Wealth Fund will aim to commit £5.8 billion collectively over this strategy period, subject to investable propositions and progress on supporting policy. 

This comes alongside a further 15 sectors in which it will pursue investment opportunities which target high growth, innovative projects and businesses and accelerate the delivery of core infrastructure:

• Artificial Intelligence
• Semiconductors
• Quantum technologies
• Defence
• Advanced materials
• Life sciences
• Critical minerals
• Aerospace supply chain
• Sustainable aviation fuels
• Water
• Offshore wind
• Retrofit
• Solar
• Heat networks
• Electric vehicle charging

Through its investments, the National Wealth Fund will pursue opportunities to address market weaknesses and crowd in private finance, supporting these key sectors and helping to accelerate high-impact projects which align with local, devolved and national government priorities. 

Oliver Holbourn, National Wealth Fund CEO, said:

“This is an exciting new chapter for the National Wealth Fund as we look to unlock the UK’s future. We will be going further and faster to drive more than £100 billion into the economy, fully deploying our capital over the next five years to help drive economic growth, accelerate the transition to clean energy, transform communities with place-based investments and strengthen our self-sufficiency, security and resilience."  

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: 

 "Clean energy is not just about energy sovereignty, it is about bringing back the good industrial jobs that have been denied to our country for too long. Thanks to the certainty of the government's clean energy superpower mission and public investment like this - the industry is responding with record investment- meaning better jobs for people across our country."  

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, said:

“When I became Chancellor, I created the National Wealth Fund to drive growth, and since then it has invested billions of pounds in our industries and infrastructure, helping to create tens of thousands of jobs across Britain. This new plan will go even further with £100 billion for our communities—delivering much-needed investment as we push to deliver our modern Industrial Strategy and build a Britain that works for all.”  

To date, the National Wealth Fund has committed a third of its capital, mobilised more than £17bn of private investment and created or supported more than 70,000 jobs. This strategy will ensure the Fund’s remaining capital is fully deployed over the next five years to support the Government’s growth and clean energy missions and deliver a return for the UK’s taxpayers. 

ⁱ The National Wealth Fund is capitalised with £27.8bn and has deployed £8.4bn to date. It will commit the remaining £19.4bn by the end of this strategy period which is 2030/31.

ⁱⁱ The more than £100bn investment consists of our core capital plus commitment to Sizewell C alongside the private finance we expect to mobilise within this strategy period (by 2030/31). We expect to mobilise further private finance over time, over the lifecycle of our investments, delivering our 3:1 target ratio.

ⁱⁱⁱ For both jobs and emissions, these estimates relate to the long-term impacts our whole portfolio is expected to generate by 2050. For jobs, we consider both jobs created and supported, and measure the peak year of employment impact for each project.