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There is “room” for Chinese wind turbine manufacturer Mingyang to open a factory in Scotland, the country’s deputy first minister Kate Forbes has said, as she targets more jobs for the renewables sector.
The company’s proposed manufacturing facility was earlier this year prioritised by a Scottish public-private programme matching the supply chain with developers.
However, the proposed deal has triggered criticism from some politicians concerned about handing a critical aspect of the offshore industry to an entity from a “hostile” state.
Denmark’s Vestas, another turbine manufacturer, is already pushing ahead with plans for a wind turbine facility in Leith, Edinburgh, although it has not yet made a final investment decision.
“I think there is room [for Mingyang and Vestas],” Forbes said in an interview with the Financial Times.
“I think if you look at the ambitions right now for the transition, the transformation required in our supply chain needs to be enormous,” she added.
Mingyang is closing in on a preferred supplier agreement for up to 6GW of floating wind capacity to decarbonise the oil and gas sector in the North Sea from UK developer Cerulean Winds, a potential anchor deal.
Cerulean Winds, which is exploring options with potential global wind turbine manufacturers, said no formal agreements have been signed.
Mingyang, China’s largest floating offshore wind company, is privately owned, but critics of the potential deal remain concerned over perceived risk of interference in corporations’ decision-making.
The EU Commission is investigating whether Chinese manufacturers are getting unfair subsidies from Beijing, in a push to protect European industry.
The UK government, set on generating economic growth, has faced questions around Mingyang’s potential investment into the UK.
Earlier this month, Conservative MP Nick Timothy, in the House of Commons, called on UK energy minister Michael Shanks to rule out allowing any turbines that “might be controlled by hostile states”.
“Mingyang benefits from huge subsidies in China but there are serious questions about energy security and national security,” he added.
Shanks responded that the UK was encouraging investment and had “processes already under way” regarding investors.
Mingyang did not respond to a request for comment.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who met China’s President Xi Jinping last week, pledged to build “respectful” relations with China. Rachel Reeves, chancellor, will visit China next year to deepen economic ties.
While the Scottish government has oversight of investment promotion, any factory deal would need to align with UK security policy, which is reserved to Westminster.
Forbes said “due diligence” and “an element of caution” would be needed when weighing up its decision, but that Scotland would work “carefully on a case-by-case basis with any inward investor”.
The Scottish National party government has come under criticism for failing to leverage the country’s offshore wind industry into a jobs and manufacturing boom.
Holyrood is investing £500mn over five years into the manufacturing, port expansion and shipbuilding needed to service the 40 gigawatt pipeline of offshore wind projects.
“What I don’t want to see is the fact that our wind or our natural resources are essentially creating a lot of jobs outside Scotland,” Forbes said.
But former SNP MP Stewart McDonald, a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China’s alumni council, an international network of legislators with a hawkish stance on Beijing, said a “whole rethink” was needed.
“We would pay for a cheap route to growth for years to come,” he added: “It is not sustainable and opens up a Pandora’s box of risks.”
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