Green Electricity Provider to Create 1,000 New Jobs in U.K.

(Bloomberg) — A U.K. clean energy company is seeking to create 1,000 jobs by the end of next year, expanding its technology to simplify the way consumers buy electricity.

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Power lines run from Hinkley Point nuclear power stations, operated by Electricite de France SA’s (EDF), near Bridgwater, U.K., on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2016. After a decade of dealmaking and political brinkmanship, Electricite de France SA finally won the green light to build what will be the most expensive nuclear power station ever built, an 18 billion-pound ($24 billion) behemoth at Hinkley Point on England’s west coast.

Octopus Energy Ltd. said it wants to make the U.K. the “Silicon Valley of energy” and detailed a plan to expand its cloud-computing platform, known as Kraken, which aims to make it easier and cheaper for people to use renewable energy.

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The new jobs will go mainly to graduates and will help Octopus double its workforce by the end of 2021, according to a statement by the company on Monday. Positions will be spread across its sites in London, Brighton, Warwick and Leicester. It will also build a technology, data science and artificial intelligence center in Manchester, in the north of England.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is seeking to boost green jobs as a way to help the U.K. economy recover from the coronavirus pandemic, welcomed the company’s announcement.

“It’s U.K. tech companies like Octopus who will ensure we continue to build back greener and remain a world leader in pioneering renewable energy, leading the path to net zero whilst creating thousands of skilled jobs,” Johnson said.

Last week four-year old Octopus Energy bought U.S. startup Evolve Energy as part of a $100 million push into the American market. Chief Executive Officer Greg Jackson said Octopus’s Kraken technology had the same potential as Apple’s App Store when it was first launched.

“Through Kraken, our cloud-based energy platform, we’re revolutionizing the energy industry in the same way, creating jobs not just through increased demand for affordable renewables, but by facilitating the development of new and emerging industries like electric vehicles, electric heating and vertical farming,” Jackson said.

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