Now 'accelerate' creation of Aberdeen-based GB Energy, Starmer is told

Ministers have been urged to “accelerate” the creation of GB Energy after Sir Keir Starmer confirmed the state-owned energy company will be based in Aberdeen.

Making his party conference speech in Liverpool, the Labour leader announced the new UK government-backed firm will be based in the north east.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has launched his £8.3 billion plans for GB Energy (Picture: Paul Campbell/PA)

GB Energy will not supply power to homes, but instead help fund new and existing clean technology, as well as small and medium-sized renewable energy projects.

Sir Keir said: “We said GB Energy - our publicly-owned national champion, the vehicle that will drive forward our mission on clean energy - we said it belonged in Scotland. And it does. But the truth is, it could only really be based in one place in Scotland.

“So today I can confirm that the future of British energy will be powered, as it has been for decades by the talent and skills of the working people in the Granite City with GB Energy based in Aberdeen.

“This is how the work of change happens. A decisive mission-led government. Moving our country forward, step by step. Focused on a clear long-term plan. That first, we stabilise our economy. Second, we fix the foundations. And third, we build, with pride and determination, a Britain that belongs to you.”

Two additional sites will open in Edinburgh and Glasgow, once Great British Energy is up and running, to benefit from local skills and expertise. The company will be initially located in government buildings across the cities, while permanent bases are established.

Juergen Maier CBE, Chair of Great British Energy said: “Great British Energy’s headquarters in Aberdeen will be a starting point for the company in its work to back clean energy projects across the whole of Scotland and the UK.

“We will use this base to rapidly scale up this publicly owned, operationally independent company and start to engage with investors and communities and build supply chains across the UK.”

Its chief executive Russell Borthwick added: “With the people, skills, strategic infrastructure and future pipeline of projects already in place, the north-east of Scotland is ready to lead the way.

“However, we do not need to kill off one industry to grow another – in fact, the opposite is true, as one cannot exist without the other.

“We therefore urge the UK Government to use next month’s Budget to restore confidence in the North Sea to protect the jobs, supply chain and energy production we need to ensure a just transition.”

Scotland’s Acting Energy Secretary Gillian Martin welcomed the announcement, but urged the UK Government to “accelerate the establishment” of the company.

“We will now press the UK Government to make sure that this announcement brings real decision making to Aberdeen and adds value to the great work already taking place in the energy transition,” she said.

“More widely, we are working closely with the UK Government as it establishes the GBE team and we would encourage them to accelerate the establishment of the new organisation so that investment in projects in Scotland can be taken forward without delay.”

The co-leaders of Aberdeen City Council said they were “delighted” with the announcement.

“As the energy capital of Europe, Aberdeen is best placed in Scotland to be home to the UK Government’s GB Energy headquarters,” Ian Yuill and Christian Allard said in a joint statement.

They added: “This will help secure future investments in the sector and will help confirm Aberdeen as the net zero capital of Europe.

Aberdeen had long been the favourite destination for the headquarters, given the city being at the centre of the oil and gas industry and the offshore renewables sector.

But doubt had emerged Aberdeen would be chosen after the city’s chamber of commerce laid into Labour’s energy plans ahead of the election, warning the party was putting thousands of energy jobs at risk.

Party figures have been tight-lipped on the location for months, only for the figure to leak weeks before the party conference.

The Prime Minister had previously used GB Energy as an example of the Government's long-term plan after the closure of the Grangemouth refinery.

Speaking in a pre-conference interview, he said: “We’ve got those Scottish MPs now and I intend to deliver on the promises that we made in terms of the economy, in terms of the next stage towards transition and to make sure that the good jobs of the future are in Scotland.

“Hence GB Energy being headquartered in Scotland is a sort of statement of intent, if you like.”

The Scottish Government had previously pledged to establish a publicly-owned, non-profit company to sell gas and electricity by 2021, only to scrap the plan years later.

Responding to the announcement, SNP Westminster leader and Aberdeen South MP Stephen Flynn urged the Prime Minister to “get down to the business of explaining how GB Energy will bring down energy bills”.

“After all, the legislation itself is barely four pages long, offers no insight into how the body will be structured nor what its strategic aims will be, and doesn’t even begin to outline how energy bills will reduce as promised.”

While Scottish Tory energy spokesman Douglas Lumsden – a former co-leader of Aberdeen City Council – said the announcement will do “almost nothing” to compensate for the “hammer-blow” of Labour policies on oil and gas, after the Prime Minister ruled out approving new licences in the North Sea.

Sir Ian Wood, a well known oil and gas billionaire and the chair of Aberdeen’s Energy Transition Zone (ETZ), urged the sector to work with ministers to shape the agency.

“It is now essential that industry works closely with the UK Government to design GB Energy, ensuring it fulfils its stated ambition as an investment vehicle that accelerates the country’s diversification to green energies.

“ETZ Ltd have a proven track record of working positively with this region’s supply chain as well as developers of the vast array of transformational renewable projects on our doorstep – we stand ready to play our part in making GB Energy a success.”

Stuart Payne – the chief executive of the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) – said he was “absolutely delighted” with the news.

He added: “The city was at the absolute heart of the UK’s energy story for the last 60 years, and can do the same for the next 60 – the energy transition will be accelerated and enabled by a world class workforce, a passion for tackling the hardest technical challenges, and a very warm welcome awaits our new colleagues.”

And David Whitehouse, the chief executive of Offshore Energies UK, said it was important where the organisation was located, “but what really matters is what it does”, as he urgedGBEnergyto listen to “expert people across our sector, backing our supply chains and safeguarding the jobs of thousands of skilled workers across the UK”.