Octopus Energy has announced plans for 1,000 new jobs and a technology, data science and artificial intelligence centre in Manchester.

The UK-based business announced its ambition to make the UK the "Silicon Valley of energy" with plans to double its existing workforce by the end of 2021. The new jobs will be spread across its sites in London, Brighton, Warwick and Leicester and will primarily go to graduates looking to work in operations and green energy tech.

Its proprietary cloud-based technology platform claims to have unlocked the 'smart grid', giving customers access to cheaper electricity when renewable energy is abundant and even paying them to use it when there is a surplus.

Its new technology centre, based in Manchester, will develop the smart grid technologies required for a renewable system and the electrification of transport and heating. Collaboration across London, Manchester and Silicon Valley will help deliver systems which automatically warm homes when the grid is greenest.

Octopus Energy chief executive Greg Jackson said: "Through ‘Kraken’, our cloud-based energy platform, we’re revolutionising the energy industry, 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.

"Our technology is making the UK the Silicon Valley of energy, and along with a flourishing market, can help make Britain the best place to invest in creating new clean electricity generation."

The company recently launched into the US market with the acquisition of Silicon Valley-based startup Evolve Energy. The $5 million deal is the pivotal element in Octopus’s $100 million investment in the US, following moves into Australia and Germany last year.

Starting in Texas, Octopus Energy US is targeting 25 million US energy accounts on its technology platform by 2027. They will make up a quarter of the business’s global target of 100 million energy accounts in the same time frame.

The renewable energy supplier is the UK’s fastest growing private company, having gained 1.7 million customers since launching four years ago. In April, Octopus became the country’s latest tech ‘unicorn’, valued at close to $2 billion after Australian energy company Origin Energy acquired a 20 percent stake for nearly $400 million.

Prime minister Boris Johnson said: “These 1,000 jobs will provide exciting opportunities across the country for those who want to be at the cutting edge of the global green revolution.

“And it’s UK 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.”

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