Industry experts are still confused over what exactly Labour’s Great British Energy will do.

Professor Paul de Leeuw, the director of Robert Gordon University’s Energy Transition Institute told The Herald that given the prominence of the proposal, there should be “clear plans.

He said the party had set up a website but not set out a business model or any funding arrangements, or how the organisation would fit in with a number of mechanisms already in place. 

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The leading academic's comments come as Sir Keir Starmer is set to claim that the publicly owned clean energy company will help to protect the UK from spikes in the price of fuel.

The Labour leader is due to meet pensioners in the North West of England on Tuesday to discuss the proposals Speaking ahead of the visit, he said: “With Great British Energy, my changed Labour Party will close the door on Putin,” Sir Keir said.

“Energy policy is now a matter of national security. It is a key component of our country’s resilience and capacity to weather future shocks.

“We simply cannot afford to remain as vulnerable to price spikes as we have been in the past.

“Keeping the lights on and heating our homes should not mean leaving our front door open to Russia.”

There was confusion over GB Energy last week when Sir Keir told the BBC it would “be an investment vehicle, so not an energy company.”

The party then tried to clear things up, saying that while it would not be an energy retail company, it would generate power in its own right, as well as owning, managing and operating clean power projects alongside private firms.

GB Energy will be given £8.3 billion over the next five years, funded by a windfall tax on the profits of oil and gas firms.

Labour has said initial investments will focus on wind and solar projects, with new technologies such as floating offshore wind, hydrogen and carbon capture and storage also eligible for funding.

Prof de Leeuw said: “I followed the Sir Keir Starmer’s speech last week and I’m still puzzled what GB Energy is about.

“He outlined ‘five national missions to get Britain’s future back’ as part of its 2024 election campaign, including GB Energy.

“However, the announcement lacked any detail about what GB Energy will deliver, by whom and by when.”

“If it is one of the top five missions, I certainly expected clear plans, deliverables, business models, funding arrangements, organisational set-up etc,” he added.

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Prof de Leeuw said he was also not clear about the promise to invest in new technologies such as floating offshore wind, hydrogen and carbon capture and storage.

“It is already happening through other mechanisms,” he said, pointing to the Energy Systems Catapult, Contract for Differences, Net Zero Technology Centres, and other funding models.

“Is this replacing these or are these additional activities and funding pots?”

The Labour plans will likely come under scrutiny in Holyrood tomorrow, with the Tories holding a debate on the energy sector.

Speaking ahead of the debate, Douglas Ross, said it would be “economic and environmental lunacy to turn away from oil and gas”.

He said: “The entire economy of north-east Scotland is on the line at this election because of the reckless plans of Labour and the SNP to turn off the taps in the North Sea.

“It is economic and environmental lunacy to turn away from oil and gas, as Labour, the SNP, Greens and Lib Dems are intent on doing, because it would see tens of thousands of skilled jobs lost and force us to import more expensive fossil fuels with a greater carbon footprint.”

Shadow Scotland secretary Ian Murray said it took a “brass neck” for Mr Ross “to lecture anyone on either the economy or the environment”.

He said: “The Tories have caused economic turmoil for millions of Scots and ripped up their climate pledges.

“Our two dysfunctional governments have no plan to protect jobs in the north-east, but oil and gas workers are at the heart of Labour’s plans.

“Under Labour’s plans, oil and gas will remain part of our energy system for decades to come and the next generation of energy jobs will come to Scotland.

“Only Labour has a plan to deliver lower bills, green jobs, energy security, climate leadership and a publicly-owned GB energy company based here in Scotland.”

SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said: “There are three options on the table for voters – a Labour Party who pose an immediate risk to 100,000 jobs, a Tory Party who pose an immediate risk to delivering net zero, or the SNP, who will put Scotland first by protecting the oil and gas workforce we have today in order to develop the net zero jobs and economy of tomorrow.

“We need the economy of the north-east to thrive for decades to come and that only happens if we utilise the skills and wealth of talent within the oil and gas sector to power and develop our huge renewables potential.

“If we don’t get the transition right and bury our heads in the sand like the Tories and the Labour Party, then we will lose out on investment to other countries across the globe – that would be a betrayal of Scotland’s energy potential.”