The head of Britain’s largest energy supplier has warned that the UK risks being “left behind” if it fails to collaborate with China on renewable technology, suggesting that importing Chinese wind farm innovations could create thousands of jobs.
Greg Jackson, founder and chief executive of Octopus Energy, recently accompanied Sir Keir Starmer on a UK delegation to China. He emphasised China’s significant advancements in technology and renewables, which he believes could provide Britain with crucial energy security.
This push for closer ties follows Octopus Energy’s recent joint venture with Chinese firm PCG Power, marking its first expansion into China.
The agreement will enable Octopus to trade renewable energy within the world’s largest clean energy market.
Furthermore, Octopus has previously indicated its desire to deploy wind turbines from leading Chinese manufacturers across its UK projects, utilising the country’s renewable technology to enhance Britain’s capabilities.
However, these potential collaborations are set against a backdrop of ongoing national security concerns regarding China, following a period of strained relations between the two nations.
Mr Jackson told the Press Association: “However you feel about China, it’s the second-largest economy in the world.
“In many areas it’s setting the global pace because of its investment in research and development, and technology.
“There are many people concerned about China’s motives or the way in which it’s run, but … if you don’t look at how to work with them, then you’ll get left behind.”
He added that working with China and gaining access to its technology was a “golden opportunity” that has the potential to bring down energy bills, create jobs and help boost the UK economy.
He told PA: “We need to be prepared to defend our own sovereignty and ensure our own security while working and trading with countries who can make people in Britain better off.
“There’s this obsession with whether or not we’re helping their economy, but the reality is we need to help our own economy.”
In September last year, Octopus struck a deal to co-operate on wind farm projects with Ming Yang Smart Energy Group in China, which could pave the way for UK firms to bring Chinese turbine machinery into Britain for the first time.
Mr Jackson said the firm is hoping to start bringing the turbine technology over in the next couple of years, which is said to be around 30 per cent cheaper than from Europe.
“We would hope to create thousands of jobs here to produce some of the wind turbines that the UK is planning on building,” he said.
He insisted security would be the firm’s “number one priority” in rolling out the technology, but that the UK needs to take action to reduce its reliance on imported gas and bring the cost of bills down.
“We should work intelligently and carefully with the appropriate security frameworks,” he said.
“They’re opening up to us in an appropriate way and we need to think about how we’ll work with them here.”
Octopus, which has 7.6 million customers in the UK, overtook British Gas to become the UK’s largest energy supplier earlier this year, with a market share of 24 per cent.
It also has an AI-powered platform, called Kraken Technologies, which is used by other global energy retailers to improve customer service and billing and is valued at around £6.4 billion.
The Government last month said it was investing £25 million into Kraken through the British Business Bank (BBB) ahead of the division being spun out in the next few months.