As reported by Yahoo, Sustainable energy company Octopus Energy has said it wants to make the UK the “Silicon Valley of energy” as it announced 1,000 new jobs in England.
Octopus’s announcement on Monday was greeted by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who said it will create “exciting opportunities across the country for those who want to be at the forefront of the global green revolution.”
The plan includes a new center for technology, data science and artificial intelligence in Manchester, the firm said.
He said the new jobs will be at their sites in London, Brighton, Warwick and Leicester and will go primarily to science and engineering graduates.
The Prime Minister said: “These 1,000 jobs will provide exciting opportunities across the country for those who want to be at the forefront of the global green revolution.
“And it is UK tech companies like Octopus that will ensure that we continue to rebuild greener and remain a world leader in pioneering renewable energy, leading the way to zero and creating thousands of skilled jobs.”
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “More green jobs is not only good news for British job seekers, it is a vote of confidence in the UK economy as it recovers, and central to our collective efforts to build a greener planet. and cleaner. “
Octopus, which specializes in supplying energy using renewable sources, was founded in 2016 and its domestic energy arm has 1.7 million customers.
In April, the Octopus Energy Group became a UK tech unicorn, meaning it was valued at over £ 1bn, following an investment from leading Australian energy company Origin Energy.
The company said it plans to double its existing workforce by the end of 2021 and said the new Manchester-based technology center will develop the “smart grid technologies necessary for a renewable system and the electrification of transportation and heating.”
CEO Greg Jackson said, “When Apple created the App Store, no one knew it would change the way we order food or transport forever.
“Through ‘Kraken’, our cloud-based energy platform, we are revolutionizing the energy industry in the same way, creating jobs not only through increasing demand for affordable renewable energy, but by facilitating the development of industries. new and emerging such as electric vehicles, electric heating and vertical farming.
“Our technology is making the UK the Silicon Valley of energy and, together with a flourishing market, can help make Britain the best place to invest in creating new generation of clean electricity.”