National energy company, which launched this week, is Labour’s strategy to end dependence on fossil fuels

Aberdeen, the centre of the UK’s North Sea oil and gas industry for the past six decades, witnessed the launch of a new company this week that aims to sweep away Britain’s dependence on fossil fuels for ever.

Great British Energy is at the heart of the recently elected Labour government’s pitch to decarbonise the UK’s power sector by 2030. Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, told an audience in Aberdeen on Thursday that the company would “harness the potential we have to truly lead the world in renewables jobs”.