GB Energy chief executive Dan McGrail said today it will create 300 jobs at its Aberdeen HQ by 2030 as he attempted to settle ongoing disgruntlement over previous promises.

Mr McGrail told the Scottish Affairs Committee that there are currently nine permanent employees in the HQ and 15 are on loan from other government departments.

He said 96 roles were currently being recruited. He expects there to be about 100 staff in a year’s time of which 72 will be in Aberdeen.

Juergen Maier, GBE’s chairman, told the committee in October last year that he expected 1,000 jobs at the HQ, but later claimed he was puzzled by this number and that he wanted a lean organisation.

Earlier this month Scotland Secretary Douglas Alexander told the committee it was never the intention of the Labour government to create 1,000 jobs at the headquarters of GB Energy in Aberdeen

He said: “We promised to set up a publicly-owned energy company and our government has done it. The work is getting under way.

“The intention was never to create jobs for a thousand civil servants working in a large office in Aberdeen.”

At today’s hearing SNP member David Doogan told Mr McGrail that the people of the north east were “disappointed and disillusioned” that there had been some backtracking on the original promise.

Mr McGrail, who said GB Energy’s strategic plan would be published in the coming weeks, said: “Our plan envisages 300 jobs by 2030,” adding “probably sooner than that”. He said: “It is the jobs they catalyse that will create many multiples of that.”

He would not commit to the company helping to reduce energy bills by £300 in line with Labour’s promises it would do, saying that GB Energy was “one actor” and that it could be “complementary” to the goal of reducing bills.

“Big parts of that are down to government policy, wider government polic,y and it’s not for me to comment on,” he said.

“One actor like GB Energy cannot solve a problem. What we can do is make sure that our investments are complementary to the mission.”

Asked about reports that the Chinese turbine manufacturer Ming Yang had been in talks with GB Energy about co-investing in Scotland, he said: “Ultimately, we are talking to a whole range of manufacturers to secure investment into the UK, and the supply chain is a significant part of our strategy, so we want to make sure we maximise that investment.

“But there is no active dialogue with that particular investor.”

Mr McGrail was speaking as GB Energy’s first investment in offshore wind was announced alongside the National Wealth Fund and the Scottish National Investment Bank in a deal worth up to £150 million, shared equally by the investors.