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Universe›Priority accounts›Department for Energy Security & Net Zero
Ministerial department · Energy / Net Zero · ~4,000 core

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Sizewell C hit Final Investment Decision 22 July 2025 and Financial Close 4 November 2025 at ~£38bn. Great British Energy is standing up a greenfield HQ in Aberdeen. lease commenced 27 Feb 2026, staff move-in 1 Sept 2026, c.300 FTE target. Warm Homes Plan £15bn to 2030 published 21 January 2026. New Perm Sec Jonathan Brearley from 23 March 2026 (ex-Ofgem CEO). A rare confluence of new-build IT scope, leadership churn and mission urgency. Rating is Buy not Strong. named DESNZ awards to Atos have not been surfaced in this pass.

Situation · account brief

Greenfield IT purchase window at GBE. Sizewell C financial close done.

Headline figures

Sizewell C total costFID 22 Jul 2025. Financial Close 4 Nov 2025. UK government 44.9% equity, NWF majority debt.
£38bn
Warm Homes Plan£15bn to 2030 for 5m home upgrades. BUS £2.7bn, Heat Networks £1.1bn, Warm Homes Fund £5bn.
£15bn
GBE Aberdeen fit-outMarischal Square lease commenced 27 Feb 2026. Staff move-in from 1 Sept 2026. Target c.300 headcount.
£1.7m
DESNZ + DSIT End User Compute re-procurementFlagged in DESNZ April 2024 pipeline.
£13.26m

Why this account moves now

  • 27 Feb 2026 lease → 1 Sept 2026 move-in. GBE greenfield IT estate. no incumbent. Identity, endpoint, SIEM, data-platform and application stack are being purchased now with no significant on-prem legacy. RFP window imminent and short.
  • 22 Jul 2025 FID → 4 Nov 2025 Financial Close. Sizewell C. Bounded but urgent programme-assurance, KYC, risk-assurance and secure data-exchange requirements between DESNZ, Sizewell C Ltd, NWF and shareholders (EDF, Centrica, La Caisse, Amber).
  • 23 Mar 2026. Jonathan Brearley appointed Permanent Secretary from Ofgem CEO. Market-and-regulator lens now sits on DESNZ AO decisions. Reinforces outcome-based, evidence-heavy procurement.
  • 8 Apr 2025 (reconvened 1 Dec 2025). AI Energy Council first meeting co-chaired by Miliband and Kyle. 'AI can play an important role in building a new era of clean electricity.' Formal grid-AI use cases with ELEXON/NESO.
Timeline · dated events

Every dated event in evidence, oldest first.

  1. 13 November 2024
    Written Question 12972. all DESNZ staff have Copilot for web; ~1/3 licensed for M365 Copilot.
    Advanced Analytics team building GenAI use cases on impact assessments, lessons-learnt logs, DUKES statistics. questions-statements.parliament.uk
  2. 13 February 2025
    Great British Nuclear rebranded to GBE-Nuclear.
    Chair Simon Bowen, CTO Brian Robinson, CFO Neil Cooper, MD Kenny Douglas. gov.uk
  3. 17 March 2025
    First meeting of Great British Energy Board members (Aberdeen).
    Convened by Energy Minister Michael Shanks MP. Governance beddown ahead of Aberdeen HQ move-in. gov.uk
  4. 8 April 2025
    AI Energy Council. first meeting co-chaired by Miliband and Kyle.
    'AI can play an important role in building a new era of clean electricity for our country.' Reconvened 1 Dec 2025 on grid reform. gov.uk
  5. 22 July 2025 (FID); 4 November 2025 (Financial Close)
    Sizewell C. FID and Financial Close (~£38bn).
    UK government 44.9% equity; NWF majority debt. gov.uk
  6. 21 January 2026 (updated 18 March 2026)
    Warm Homes Plan. £15bn to 2030 published.
    £13.2bn allocated at Spending Review 2025. Target 5m home upgrades by 2030. gov.uk
  7. 23 March 2026
    Jonathan Brearley appointed Permanent Secretary.
    Previously Ofgem CEO. Follows interim Perm Sec Clive Maxwell and Jeremy Pocklington. gov.uk
People · named decision-makers

Named, dated, prior-role evidence where public.

Group CDIO
Karl Hoods CBE
Group CDIO. DESNZ and DSIT (via ICS Digital)
Prior: CDIO at BEIS; CIO at Save the Children; TSO; web/sports-media startups. SRO for cross-government tech interoperability agenda.
'Scalable common components' ICS Digital narrative. Shared-service instinct. Preference for joint DESNZ/DSIT ICS procurements; standard buys via RM6116 TS3, DOS6, G-Cloud 14.
icsdigital.blog.gov.uk
CTO · GBE-N
Brian Robinson
CTO, Great British Energy. Nuclear
Prior: With GBN since inception (Feb 2023).
Nuclear new-build technology stack ownership. Distinct from GBE core, which has no named CTO/CDIO as of Sept 2026.
gov.uk
Sec of State
Ed Miliband
Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Jul 2024-)
Prior: AI Energy Council speech (8 Apr 2025). Nuclear 2025 speech (4 Dec 2025). Global Offshore Wind keynote (24 Jun 2025). Signed Sizewell C FID.
Clean-power-2030 mission owner. AI-as-enabler stance explicit and personally on record.
gov.uk
Perm Sec
Jonathan Brearley
Permanent Secretary, DESNZ (from 23 Mar 2026)
Prior: Ofgem CEO.
Market-and-regulator lens. Sharpens the AO gate on outcome-based, evidence-heavy procurement.
gov.uk
2nd Perm Sec
Clive Maxwell CB CBE
Second Perm Sec DESNZ; from Jul 2026 Second Perm Sec & CEO OneGov Delivery Agency (Cabinet Office)
Prior: Interim DESNZ Perm Sec 24 Nov 2025. 22 Mar 2026. Named at PAC Sellafield evidence 20 Mar 2025.
gov.uk
Minister
Michael Shanks MP
Energy Minister
Prior: Convened GBE first Board meeting Aberdeen 17 Mar 2025.
gov.uk
CEO · GBE
Dan McGrail
CEO, Great British Energy (permanent from 7 Jul 2025; interim 20 Feb 2025)
Prior: RenewableUK.
gov.uk
DG
Jonathan Mills CB
DG, Energy Markets and Supply (Feb 2023-) & SRO Clean Energy Superpower Mission
gov.uk
DG
Lee McDonough
DG, Net Zero, Nuclear and International (Feb 2023-)
gov.uk
Contracts & money · dated positions

Named DESNZ awards to Atos not surfaced in this pass. BEIS-era incumbency likely persists via ICS shared services. Find a Tender pull required.

WorkstreamIncumbentDetailExpiryStatus
End User Compute Managed Service (PRJ2354)ICS on behalf of DSIT + DESNZ (award notice 7 Nov 2024)SME-suitable call-off. Awarded supplier redacted. £13.26m EUC re-procurement flagged in DESNZ pipeline (Apr 2024).TBCLive
GPC (payment cards, RM6248 Payment Solutions 2)Barclays Bank plc1 Dec 2024. 30 Nov 2025 + 3×1yr extensions. DESNZ/DSIT/DBT/UKSA.Nov 2025 (+3yr options)Live
AZP & HNDU Zoning Support (Prj_2277)Greenfield Nordic Ltd5-month task order to 31 Mar 2025. Managing access control to DESNZ SharePoint & Teams.31 Mar 2025Task-order
RREMS / NERIMNET hostingAWS (framework call-off)£2m, 1 Apr 2025. 31 Mar 2028.31 Mar 2028Live
Cross-government (Fujitsu leverage argument)Fujitsu£3.4bn+ live Treasury-family contracts as of Feb 2024. Horizon-era leverage argument for competitive displacement.VariousHorizon-era exposure
Government signals · parliament, regulators, ministerial

Named forum, named speaker, dated.

8 April 2025
AI Energy Council (co-chaired by Miliband + Kyle)
'AI can play an important role in building a new era of clean electricity for our country.'
Cross-Whitehall AI infrastructure and data-platform work at DESNZ. Formal grid-AI use cases with ELEXON/NESO.
gov.uk
13 November 2024
Written Question 12972
All DESNZ staff have Copilot for web; ~1/3 licensed for M365 Copilot.
DESNZ Advanced Analytics team building GenAI use cases on impact assessments, lessons-learnt logs, DUKES statistics. Precedes an AI/data platform tender under RM6116/G-Cloud.
questions-statements.parliament.uk
4 December 2025
Nuclear 2025 Conference. Energy Secretary speech
Nuclear 2025 keynote. Ed Miliband.
SMR programme momentum; new-build IT scope through GBE-Nuclear.
gov.uk
17 March 2025
GBE first Board meeting (Aberdeen)
First meeting of Great British Energy Board members.
Convened by Michael Shanks MP. Governance beddown ahead of Aberdeen HQ move-in.
gov.uk
Sources · full evidence index

Every claim on this account is footnoted here.

  1. BBC. GBE Aberdeen HQ (lease + move-in)
  2. GOV.UK. Sizewell C FID
  3. GOV.UK. Warm Homes Plan £15bn
  4. GOV.UK. AI Energy Council first meeting
  5. GOV.UK. GBE-Nuclear leadership
  6. DESNZ Annual Report & Accounts 2025-26
  7. ICS Digital blog. Karl Hoods
  8. Parliament. WQ 12972 (DESNZ Copilot)
  9. GOV.UK. GBE Board Aberdeen
  10. GOV.UK. Dan McGrail permanent CEO
  11. GOV.UK. CfD AR7 results
  12. D3 Tenders. DESNZ EUC PRJ2354