Prime minister Andy Burnham has announced the creation of Great British (GB) Grid, a new publicly-owned body within Great British Energy that will help accelerate the delivery of electricity network infrastructure.

His first address to the Labour party conference in Liverpool as PM focused on Britain’s rising energy costs and sluggish economic growth with plans for the new body to invest in the electricity grid.

Great British Grid will bring together public and private investment to support the delivery of critical network infrastructure across the country. Working alongside existing network operators, it will aim to accelerate projects, increase competition and support the delivery of the grid upgrades needed to power Britain’s future.

He said the new branch of the publicly-owned Great British Energy is designed to “challenge private sector operators”. “It will increase competition, drive down costs and speed up connections to businesses can expand and grow more quickly,” added the PM.

He said it was part of the ambition to bring energy, water and housing back under stronger public control.

The government said it is already working with the National Energy System Operator (NESO) - which is responsible for operating, planning and coordinating the electricity system - and Ofgem to reform the connections system, including overhauling the connections queue and removing more than 300 GW of speculative capacity.

But further investment will be needed over the coming decades to upgrade the electricity network and ensure it can meet rising demand from homes, industry and new sources of clean power.

To help projects and businesses connect to the grid more quickly, the government will also bring forward reforms to expand self-build connections. This will allow developers and businesses to build their own connections where appropriate, rather than waiting for network companies to do so, helping reduce delays, lower costs and accelerate growth.  Accelerating self-build connections has delivered significant benefits internationally, with similar reforms in Ireland reducing connection times by up to 11 months.

The government will also accelerate the competitive tendering of transmission projects, allowing a wider range of organisations, including Great British Grid, to compete to deliver new network infrastructure. It says this will help drive innovation, improve delivery and secure better value for consumers.

Combined with wider grid reforms, Great British Grid will help unlock investment, accelerate delivery and ensure Britain has the network infrastructure needed to support clean power, strengthen energy security and grow the economy.

Great British Grid will invest public capital, alongside private investment, in electricity network infrastructure projects across the country. It is designed to work alongside existing private sector investors, developers and network operators. Its purpose is to bring additional public investment, increase competition and accelerate delivery of critical infrastructure where Britain needs it most.

The initial start-up costs for GBG will be covered by GBE’s existing budgets. As grid delivery has a long development time, the long-term budget for this expanded remit will be considered as part of a future spending review.