Business chiefs in Scotland’s three largest cities have launched a public bidding war after it emerged Edinburgh , Glasgow and Aberdeen are all in the running to become home to Labour’s new publicly-owned energy company. Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said GB Energy will provide a “huge boost to the Scottish economy” and promised a decision on the location of its headquarters will be made shortly. Advertisement Advertisement Sign up to our Politics newsletter Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more.
Labour has repeatedly said the new company will be based north of the Border. The Times reported Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, has now narrowed the location down to one of Scotland’s three biggest cities. Aberdeen is widely seen as the favourite due to its importance to the energy industry.
Any decision to opt for the central belt instead would be seen as a huge snub for the city, with one source saying its business leaders would go “tonto”. Mr Murray said: “Every city and every area in Scotland can make a case – all those cases are being made at the moment, very strongly, to Ed Miliband, and a decision will be made relatively shortly.” The Scottish Secretary, who was visiting Social Bite, a social enterprise in Edinburgh, added: “Where it's headquartered, of course it's important, but it's not the key issue – the key issue here is it's in Scotland, it's publicly-owned and it's going to be driving us towards clean power by 2030, which should lower people's bills, provide jobs and give us energy security.
” Liz McAreavey, chief executive of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce, said the city was the “obvious choice”. She said: “The role of GB Energy is to invest in clean energy, providing public ownership and greater energy security for the UK. Some £8.
3 billion has been earmarked by the new UK government for the first Parliament, and with a commitment to headquarter in Scotland, Edinburgh – as the leading UK financial centre outside London – is the obvious choice. “Scotland’s capital is the fourth largest financial centre in Europe, and one of the leading 20 financial centres in the world. No other Scottish city can match this proud history of providing financial services and fund management, and through it Edinburgh can provide the skills, expertise and experience that will be required to ensure that the public funds being invested are used to maximum effect in the transition to net zero.
In addition, through its existing financial clout, Edinburgh is also well-placed to help leverage private sector investment. “Then add in the world-leading data management and analysis capabilities in the city and the case for selecting Edinburgh is extremely strong. We will be working with our partners in the city council, and in the financial sector, to present a strong and united case for Edinburgh.
” Advertisement Advertisement Stuart Patrick, chief executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, said: "Glasgow has a wealth of talented and innovative businesses across the energy sector which would work in sync with the newly created GB Energy based here in the city. "Glasgow is the home of highly innovative renewable energy firms, many major utility and renewable companies, the offshore renewable energy catapult (ORE Catapult), and a skills base with multiple top universities and colleges, particular the University of Strathclyde, and its work producing some the nation's best graduates in the energy sector. "It is therefore no surprise to see our city shortlisted and I hope the UK Government gives strong consideration to Glasgow's status as an ideal base for GB Energy.
" But Russell Borthwick, chief executive of Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, insisted there was no better location than Aberdeen. He said: “We are encouraged at the pace with which the new UK government is taking forward its plans for Great British Energy. There is a huge opportunity ahead: for industry, for government, for the energy workforce and in terms of our transition to a greener economy.
“Aberdeen has been Europe’s major global energy hub for half a century. We are home to over a thousand energy supply chain companies and the lion’s share of energy workers who stand ready to deliver the UK’s transition to net zero. Over 17GW of floating offshore wind projects will be deployed within 100 nautical miles of our city.
“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. Quite clearly there is no better location for GB Energy than Aberdeen. People and businesses right across Scotland already understand why that is the case – and we’re confident that government will find that case similarly compelling.
” It is understood a decision on GB Energy’s location will be made within the next couple of months. Advertisement Advertisement It comes after Sir Keir Starmer warned it will “take time” to reap the benefits of clean power initiatives but stood by a claim that Labour’s plans will eventually drive down household bills by £300 a year. The Prime Minister insisted the government is “moving at pace” with the development of GB Energy but said “problems that have been left to fester for years” cannot be fixed “overnight”.
In a speech in Cheshire on Thursday, he set out new plans to team up with the Crown Estate, which owns the vast majority of Britain’s seabed, to boost the building of offshore wind farms. The Crown Estate has a £16 billion portfolio of land and seabed, and returns its profits to the government, a small portion of which goes to the monarchy. Much of its £1.
1 billion profit last year came from offshore wind projects, and it is already engaged in a significant push to find and develop new plots of the seabed for companies to build wind turbines on. Mr Miliband said GB Energy will start generating returns “within the lifetime of this Parliament” but would not set a date for when people can expect bills to fall. “Within a couple of years, as we build new onshore wind, new solar, we’ll start to see the effect on bills, but there are lots of things going on here,” he told the BBC on Thursday.
"So our exposure to gas prices, which are set internationally, is something I don’t control...
I can’t promise you what’s going to happen to gas prices. But I can say that, if we drive to clean, homegrown British energy, we will have much more control over what happens to bills.” Comments Want to join the conversation? Please register or log in to comment on this article.
.
