Juergen Maier outlines GB Energy supply chain ambitions
Newly appointed chair of state-owned energy company Great British Energy Juergen Maier says he will work closely with private sector energy businesses to create supply chains that will support a “new era of clean power, bringing jobs and wealth to every corner of Britain.”
One of the first partnerships handed to Maier, a former chief executive of Siemens UK, is a partnership with the Crown Estates, which has a £16 billion portfolio of land and seabed, operates independently and returns its profits to the government.
It believes the partnership will lead to up to 20-30GW of new offshore wind developments reaching seabed lease stage by 2030, enough power for the equivalent of almost 20 million homes.
The partnership is designed to boost Britain’s energy independence by investing in homegrown power, and with accompanying reforms to policy, cut the time it takes to get offshore wind projects operating and delivering power to homes by up to half.
On his appointment, Maier said: “With a publicly‑owned company working in lockstep with industry, we can help drive the innovation and investment required to transform our power system and decarbonise the grid by 2030, creating good jobs and generating wealth for Britain.
“That means investing in and directly owning new projects, and working with industry to speed up the deployment of projects. Great British Energy can help clear a path for those emerging technologies which could revolutionise the entire sector, for example this may include technologies such as floating offshore wind, tidal, hydrogen generation and storage, and carbon capture,” he added.
He also said Great British Energy would directly invest in community‑owned energy generation, reducing the pressures on the transmission grid while, he said, “giving local people a stake in their transition to net zero.”
