Labour shares GB Energy details as AGCC takes campaign to Westminster

Labour has released details about how Great British Energy will help shape the energy transition - but stopped short of confirming where it will be located yesterday.

At the state opening of parliament, The King confirmed a bill will be introduced to set-up a “publicly owned clean power company headquartered in Scotland”.

Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce hired an advertising van in Westminster for the occasion, driving home the message that the firm must "come home" to Aberdeen, the energy capital of Europe.

We now know that Great British Energy will own, manage and operate clean power projects up and down the country.

In a briefing note, the government said it will "ensure British taxpayers, bill payers and communities reap the benefits of clean, secure, home-grown energy and lower bills for families".

What else do we know?

Great British Energy will "develop, own and operate assets", investing in partnership with the private sector. It will have a capitalisation of £8.3billion of over the term of the parliament.

The government said Great British Energy will take a stake "in projects and supply chains which accelerate technologies of the future" with the aim of placing the UK at the front of the global race for technology which has major global export potential.

It will facilitate, encourage and participate in the production, distribution, storage and supply of clean energy, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from energy produced from fossil fuels as well as measures for furthering the transition to clean energy and improving energy efficiency.

The bill gives Ed Miliband the ability to provide Great British Energy with the financial backing needed for it to meet its aims and ambitions. He will be required to prepare a strategic priorities statement for Great British Energy, which will be done over the coming months.

Chamber campaign

Earlier this week, Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce sent a letter signed by 900 business people calling on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to locate Great British Energy in Aberdeen.

Yesterday, the Chamber took the campaign on to the street of Westminster with a tongue-in-cheek advert declaring "It's coming home", a play on the slogan adopted by England's football fans.

The campaign was raised directly to Mr Starmer in the House of Commons yesterday by Aberdeen South MP Stephen Flynn.

Responding to the Great British Energy Bill in the King’s Speech, Russell Borthwick, chief executive at Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, said: “This is welcome further detail around the role which the UK Government sees Great British Energy playing in delivering the energy transition.

“The scale of the ambition set out today is hugely exciting, and the intention to develop, operate and own assets alongside the private sector is going to help unlock the investment we need to become a global clean energy superpower.

“Encouragingly, the bill also refers to supporting the further reduction of emissions from our oil and gas sector, rather than seeking to accelerate its decline. This is important but must now be matched with a fiscal regime which supports continuing investment and production from the North Sea for as long as we need it.”

On the advertising van AGCC deployed around Westminster, Mr Borthwick added: “We want to drive home the message that Great British Energy should be located in Aberdeen, the home of the UK’s energy sector, its world class eco-system and supply chain.

“To achieve the ambition set-out today, this new state-owned company must be co-created with the energy sector– and that industry is largely based here in the North-east of Scotland.

“If we can only bring one thing home this summer, let it be Great British Energy…to Aberdeen.”