The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has announced the appointment of an interim chief executive for the government’s fledgling clean-power company Great British Energy.
Dan McGrail is currently chief exec of trade association RenewableUK, which represents businesses developing wind, wave, tidal, storage and green-hydrogen projects and their supply chain companies. He will take up his new role at GB Energy next month on an initial six-month contract based in Aberdeen.
DESNZ said McGrail will be on secondment from RenewableUK during that that period and recruitment for a permanent GB Energy chief will begin “shortly”.
Energy secretary Ed Miliband said McGrail will be part of a “fantastic” leadership team that includes “start-up” chair Juergen Maier, a former chief executive of Siemens UK.
“Great British Energy is at the heart of our clean power mission, and will support thousands of well-paid jobs, drive growth and investment into our communities and deliver energy security for the British people,” Miliband said.
“I look forward to working with Dan as we unlock the benefits of a new era of clean electricity.”
Setting up GB Energy was a Labour Party commitment in its 2024 general election campaign. A bill to formalise the company’s creation was introduced to parliament in July and is currently at the committee stage in the House of Lords.
In October, Maier said his long-term ambition for GB Energy was to follow the lead of multinationals Ørsted and Vattenfall.
Ørsted is the world's largest offshore wind developer and began as a Danish state-owned company, while Sweden’s Vattenfall power firm remains state-owned despite operating in multiple territories.
Maier said McGrail brings “invaluable experience from a long career in clean energy” and is joining GB Energy at a critical time to help spearhead work to help Britain become “energy independent”.
McGrail said he was “excited to hit the ground running” to scale up the company and work with industry to unleash billions of pounds in investment in clean energy, “helping to grow new industries at scale”.
Labour has promised £8.3bn of investment in GB Energy over the course of the current parliament.