Octopus Energy CEO keen to build Chinese partnerships

Chinese innovation is advancing at remarkable speed and scale, with clean energy breakthroughs offering major benefits not just for China, but for global partners like the United Kingdom, according to Greg Jackson, CEO of Octopus Energy, Britain's largest energy supplier.

In an interview with China Daily on the sideline of the 2025 Sino-UK Entrepreneur Forum, held in London last week, Jackson highlighted his company's growing collaboration with leading Chinese firms including BYD and Envision, emphasizing that China's pace and long-term vision are accelerating global energy transition.

"My experience with Chinese companies is they move so fast and with great ambition," Jackson said. "One of my favorite experiences a conversation with Envision. I asked about lead times, and they said, 'You talk in Western time or China time?' I said, 'What's the difference?' And they said, 'Well, China time, we'll do it in three months. Western time will take several years.'"

Jackson praised China's forward-looking approach to energy transformation.

"I think China's driven by long-term vision, and that means that while the rest of the world hesitates on things like the energy transition, in China it's only accelerating, and China's now going to reap the benefits," he said. "I want to work with Chinese companies in order that we can take the benefits of that to many other parts of the world."

The Octopus Energy chief noted that China is making rapid progress in technologies essential to a sustainable future, including batteries, electric vehicles, and artificial intelligence.

A standout example, he said, is Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Limited, or CATL, which has become the world's largest manufacturer of EV and energy storage batteries, supplying major automakers such as Tesla, Volkswagen, and Toyota.

Octopus Energy is a British renewable energy group founded in 2015. Headquartered in London, the company delivers energy to 7.7 million households not only in the UK, but also in France, Germany, and Italy.

Jackson said such advances are crucial to addressing lingering concerns over EV adoption and energy storage. Developments like ultra-fast charging and longer battery life, driven by companies like CATL, are helping to overcome both consumer hesitation.

He also noted China's momentum in digital technologies, citing the emergence of Chinese AI model DeepSeek as another sign of how quickly the country is pushing the boundaries of innovation.

"We always knew that was going to happen, but the pace at which that happened was incredible." He added.

In his view, China is showing global leadership in several core areas, from transport electrification to the mass production of efficient solar panels and wind turbines. This leadership, he said, creates valuable opportunities for international collaboration, particularly in energy digitization.

Looking ahead, Jackson sees significant potential for the UK and China to work together on smart grid technologies and digital energy systems. Optimizing national grids to deliver cleaner, cheaper electricity is one area where the UK's experience with market-driven innovation and China's manufacturing scale can complement each other.

While Western markets like the UK have fostered decentralized innovation in areas such as smart metering, EV optimization, and digital grid management, he believes these technologies pair well with China's strengths in hardware and system integration. Together, he said, this collaboration could produce globally scalable solutions.