A Labour election pledge to create 1,000 new renewables jobs in Scotland could take 20 years, the boss of GB Energy has said.
Keir Starmer promised the creation of a state-owned green investment firm headquartered in Aberdeen would help cut consumer energy bills by £300.
Juergen Maier, appointed chairman of Labour’s flagship energy firm in June, insisted there would be “a lot of opportunity” for people currently working in the North Sea sector to get jobs in the company.
But in his first TV interview, Maier suggested this was a “very long-term project” spanning decades and repeatedly refused to say when household prices would be slashed.
“I know that you are asking me for a date as to when I can bring that, but GB Energy has only just been brought into creation and we will bring energy bills down,” Maier told Sky News.
GN Energy will not supply power to homes but it will invest in new renewable projects while attempting to attract private investors.
Labour has pledged 1,000 jobs for Aberdeen when GB Energy is established in the city.
Maier said: “Great British Energy itself is going to create over the next five years, 200 or 300 jobs in Aberdeen. That will be the size of our team. I have said in the very long term when we become a major energy champion it may be many more than that.”
Pressed to define “long term”, he replied: “Look, we grow these companies. Energy companies grow over 10 or 20 years, and we are going to be around in 20 years.”
He said “absolutely” when asked directly if it could take two decades to fulfil the commitment of 1,000 jobs.
Unions warned there was a risk of GB Energy over-promising and under-delivering.
Unite’s Scottish Secretary Derek Thomson said: “If you look at how many jobs are going to go in the northeast, if GB energy does not pick up the pace and start to move workers in there and start to create proper green jobs, then I’m afraid we could be looking at a desolation of the northeast.”
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