Latest news with #JuergenMaier
Business News Wales
16-05-2025
- Business
- Business News Wales
ABP's Energy Ventures Accelerator Celebrates Anniversary with Expo
ABP, the UK's leading port operator, has celebrated one year since the launch of its Energy Ventures Accelerator (EVA) initiative by bringing together hundreds of climate tech innovators, investors, corporates and public officials at the EVA Expo in London. Building on a series of regional EVA Innovation Days in Cardiff, Hull and Southampton, the EVA Expo was the initiative's largest event yet. It was hosted at the Royal Institution, an historic venue where foundational scientific discoveries have been made over the past 200 years. Guests across the startup, VC, corporate VC and civil service communities heard from two keynote speakers – Juergen Maier, Chair of GB Energy and Kanishka Narayan, MP for Vale of Glamorgan. The day also featured a series of expert panel discussions exploring the different stages of the lifecycle of a startup – from technology development, through early deployment into full commercialisation and then industrialisation. Henrik L. Pedersen, ABP's CEO, said: 'Our ports are a lot more than gateways for trade, they are also enablers of the energy transition. Our EVA initiative re-frames how ABP's port infrastructure, land and commercial ecosystem can add value to both our existing customers and to future customers as well. Over the past year, we have been delighted to see so much interest from organisations across the heavy industry, energy generation and transport sectors.' ABP's Energy Ventures Accelerator was launched in 2024 and has been supported by Plug and Play UK. The programme provides a way for ABP to explore partnership opportunities with high potential clean energy hardware startups. EVA complements ABP's sustainability strategy, 'Ready for Tomorrow', which sets out ABP's target of achieving Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions from its own operations by 2040, as well as supporting ABP customers' own decarbonisation ambitions. Max Harris, ABP Group Head of Strategy and Sustainability, who leads the EVA initiative, said: 'I am very proud of the progress we've made over the past 12 months. We've expanded ABP's reach into the vibrant innovation ecosystem of startups, investors, corporates and government agencies. 'We've identified a number of commercial partnership opportunities with great startups across our portfolio of 21 ports, and now we turn our focus to supporting the industrialisation of promising technologies alongside our corporate and investor partners. I'm excited about what's to come.' The EVA Expo also featured a selection of pitches by startups in the clean tech space, including Seabound, Blastr Green Steel and HiiROC. Earlier this year, ABP announced its intention to explore a potential collaboration with Seabound and STAX Engineering to capture ships' emissions at berth at the Port of Southampton. More recently ABP, HiiROC and PX Group have signed a strategic collaboration agreement to develop a new hydrogen production plant at Saltend Chemicals Park to meet local industrial demand. The proposed plant will use HiiROC's proprietary technology to produce affordable, low carbon hydrogen. HiiROC Founder and CEO, Tim Davies, said: 'We've been working with ABP since the start of the EVA initiative and are delighted to now be in a position to pursue a significant commercial opportunity in Hull, where we are headquartered. For us, EVA has unlocked access to ABP's excellent sites and industrial customers, which has been a strategic advantage.'
STV News
15-05-2025
- Business
- STV News
Legislation to establish GB Energy passes through Parliament
Legislation to establish the publicly owned Great British Energy company has formally passed through the UK Parliament and into law. Scottish secretary Ian Murray called the moment a 'significant milestone' in the UK's journey towards a cleaner and more sustainable energy future. The firm will be headquartered in Aberdeen, with satellite offices planned for both Glasgow and Edinburgh. Juergen Maier, GB Energy's start-up chair, previously said the it would initially bring hundreds of jobs to the region. In total, more than 1,000 jobs could be created in Aberdeen once the company is up and running. 'Headquartered in Aberdeen, Great British Energy will help unlock tremendous opportunities for Scotland, particularly in harnessing our abundant renewable energy resources,' Murray said. 'Scotland is at the heart of our plans to become a clean energy superpower and today is a crucial step forward in boosting investment in green technologies and infrastructure, helping to create thousands of high-quality jobs across Scotland, drive economic growth, helping to lower bills for consumers and ensure energy security for generations to come.' The state-owned company won't supply power to homes but it will invest in new renewable technology as well as green power projects. For example, Great British Energy is investing £200m in funding for new rooftop solar power and renewable energy schemes for schools, hospitals and communities – helping them save on their energy bills. As part of this, GB Energy contributed £4m to Scotland's Community Energy Generation Growth Fund. Communities across Scotland can now bid for cash to set up renewable energy generation projects after the £8m fund reopened on Wednesday. 'Great British Energy comes from a simple idea: British people should own and benefit from our own natural resources,' UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said. 'We are giving people a stake in clean energy and delivering profits for the British people. As part of our Plan for Change, this will make us a clean energy superpower and help bring down energy bills for good.' The newly formed energy firm hosted a roundtable in Edinburgh on Thursday alongside the Scottish secretary for focus on the supply chain opportunities in Scotland. The meeting follows Great British Energy's initial £300m funding for offshore wind supply chains, which will support Britain's engineers, technicians, and welders and invest in offshore wind manufacturing components such as floating offshore platforms and cables in the UK's industrial heartlands. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
The Guardian
19-03-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
GB Energy needs full £8.3bn of funding or it will disappoint, government told
The government risks 'disappointing voters' hoping for cheaper energy bills in the next decade if it cuts the £8.3bn budget for GB Energy, a thinktank has warned. Researchers at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) found that the publicly owned energy company – set up by Labour to drive renewable energy and cut household bills – will need to be fully funded if it hopes to build enough clean energy projects to meet 5% of the country's electricity needs by the 2030s. The left-leaning thinktank added that GB Energy will need to amass a portfolio of clean power more than twice the capacity of the world's largest offshore windfarm before it begins to have a 'systemic impact' on the UK energy system. It added that creating a portfolio of this size would be 'unlikely' before 2030, in a blow to the government's plan to cut £300 a year from bills by the end of the decade by making the UK a clean energy 'superpower'. But GB Energy could still make a difference to the energy costs faced by specific groups by building projects for local communities or organisations, or by setting up supply contracts directly with energy users, the report said. The company held its first board meeting at its Aberdeen headquarters this week, chaired by the energy industry veteran Juergen Maier. He said the team was 'already engaging with industry on exciting investment opportunities so we can hit the ground running once Great British Energy is fully established' later this month. The IPPR's warning was published after reports emerged that the Treasury was considering a cut to the £8.3bn of taxpayer money promised to GB Energy over the five-year parliament in its spending review in June. Simone Gasperin, one of the authors of the IPPR report, said that for GB Energy to succeed as a publicly owned operating company the government 'must take the most ambitious approach possible, including sticking to its original plan to invest £8.3bn'. 'It must ensure that GB Energy can immediately focus on direct investment in fully owned clean energy projects, delivering real benefits to industrial and domestic consumers, and seeking to establish itself as a major player within the entire UK electricity sector,' Gasperin said. GB Energy emerged as one of Labour's most high-profile campaign pledges alongside its promise to cut energy bills by £300 a year by creating a virtually zero carbon electricity system by 2030. Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion Last month, Starmer reiterated his commitment to the £300 cut and said he wanted 'bills to be low for a prolonged period of time'. But an industry body, Energy UK, has warned that, while the government's plans could 'ensure lower energy bills in the next decade', the effect will not be felt by 2030, and further plans to help struggling households should be put in place. A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: 'Backed by £8.3bn, Great British Energy will own, manage and operate new projects, to help replace Britain's dependency on volatile fossil fuel markets with clean, homegrown power.'
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Starmer reinforces pledge to cut household energy bills by £300 a year
Sir Keir Starmer has reinforced his commitment to reducing household energy bills by £300 a year by 2030. The prime minister told that the figure is "what we are driving towards" and his Politics live: The pledge, made repeatedly during the general election campaign, has been called into question after the boss of Labour's GB Energy, Juergen Maier, called the green initiative a "long-term project" and . Asked if he stuck by the commitment, Sir Keir said: "Yeah, that is our aim. That's what we're driving towards." He said the plan would be "pushed forward" by his announcement on Thursday to slash red tape so more nuclear energy projects can be built. Speaking at the UK National Nuclear Laboratory near Preston, he said this would stop the UK being "exposed to the international market" and give us more control over prices. "We said we'd aim for £300, up to £300. That's what I want to achieve," the prime minister reiterated. "I also want stability. I want those bills to be low for a prolonged period of time. I think many businesses, many families have suffered their bills going up and down and we can't have that volatility anymore," he added 👉Listen to Politics At Jack And Sam's on your podcast app👈. The nuclear power announcement forms part of broader plans to make - with cheaper bills and better energy security. Read more:Cut taxes to get people buying electric cars - motor industryDetails on plan for Great British Energy Central to this pledge is the establishment of, which will be headquartered in the northeast of Scotland and will develop and co-invest in new low-carbon energy. But earlier this week, the firm's start-up chairman said it could take 20 years to deliver the promised 1,000 jobs in Aberdeen, while refusing to say when bills could be slashed. In his first broadcast interview, Mr Maier told Sky News: "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."
