GB Energy could see 'more than 1,000 jobs' created in Aberdeen

More than 1,000 jobs could be created in Aberdeen when Great British Energy is headquartered in the city, the company’s boss has said.

Juergen Maier, appointed by the Prime Minister as GB Energy’s start-up chair, said the publicly owned energy firm would initially bring hundreds of jobs to the region.

Last month, the UK Government finally confirmed GB Energy would be based in Aberdeen with satellite offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The state-owned company won’t supply power to homes but it will invest in new renewable technology as well as green power projects.

Mr Maier said: “It would be in the hundreds, it may eventually be a 1,000 or more in the HQ.

“And of course you will now say, that’s not going to help manage the energy transition and the reason for that is that the large numbers of people that we will be helping employ will be in the supply chain.”

Keir Starmer has said GB Energy is crucial to Labour’s pledge to cut annual energy bills by £300, although it’s not yet clear how and when that will happen.

With GB Energy owning, operating and managing clean power projects such as windfarms, Labour hopes it will help to boost growth and help workers move from oil and gas.

Professor Gioia Falcone, a sustainable energy expert at the University of Glasgow, said the public “still needs to know what exactly GB Energy will do” and what the long-term plan is.

“My understanding is still, unfortunately, very limited,” she told STV News. “I am still confused as to what decisional power GB Energy may have in a partnership where the cash available from GB Energy will be incredibly small compared to the cash from the other partners in the project.

“I don’t see GB Energy leading from a financial perspective but I am also confused how it can lead from a diplomatic perspective.

“And ultimately how GB Energy can or cannot contribute to fixing prices to the end customer, I am still unsure.”