GB Energy chairman Jurgen Maier has pledged that the state-owned energy company will create up to 300 jobs at its new headquarters in Aberdeen.
Speaking to the House of Commons energy security and net zero select committee, he said that while a workforce plan had not yet been created, he estimated there would be 200-300 roles in the city.
However, in his first appearance before MPs in October, Maier had said that the GB Energy’ Aberdeen headquarters “may eventually” create 1,000 or more jobs for the city.
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn called out the revision on Twitter, stating: “700 fewer jobs in just 43 days”.
Maier added in his House of Commons address that there was an “opportunity” to bring workers in from the city’s long-established oil and gas sector to staff GB Energy.
However, he said that, of the initial £8.3 billion of investment committed by the Labour government for GB Energy, the initial phase will involve a “very modest,” £125 million.
Maier added that these investments will be made “well into next year”.
According to him, GB Energy will make a profit within five years.
Maier, a former chief executive of Siemens UK, was appointed to head GB Energy in July this year.
He has previously laid out plans to turn the company into a “national champion” in the mould of Denmark’s renewable energy giant, Orsted.
He envisions that the company’s remit could evolve from taking minority stakes in renewable energy projects to become a major power generator in its own right, and gaining the power to borrow money.
In addition to GB Energy’s main headquarters in Aberdeen, additional satellite offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow been touted.
Maier previously said the Aberdeen roles will work with supply chains and the private sector to determine how technologies such as floating offshore wind will be enabled.
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