Chinese wind turbine manufacturers could build wind farm factories in Scotland in a £60 million deal with the SNP government – spurring MPs to demand extra security safeguards.
Mingyang Smart Energy and Orient Cable, China’s biggest offshore turbine manufacturer and a subsea cable firm respectively, have been earmarked by the Scottish Government for a £60 million contract aimed at boosting renewable energy in the North Sea.
The contract, which could include a factory making wind turbine parts built in the Inverness area, would mark Mingyang’s first expansion out of China and be a vital supply source for the UK government’s goal of boosting offshore wind provision to reach its net zero target before 2050.
It also comes after the SNP pledged to spend £150 million on offshore wind in its December budget, leveraged towards obtaining £1.5 billion in private funding for more wind farms, with the Highlands considered an ideal climate for its natural windiness and mountainous terrain.
But not everyone is optimistic at the prospect of major Chinese firms setting up shop in the Scottish Highlands – least of all SNPs from across the political divide, who have suggested that China could capitalise on its UK base to disrupt the country’s energy supplies at its whim.
Lib Dem MP for Edinburgh West Christine Jardin said: “I am not suggesting we won’t engage with China, particularly if it means we can have jobs here.
“Building turbine blades in the Highlands, close to where they will be needed makes a lot of sense to me.”
However, she added that Vladimir Putin’s destabilisation of European gas supplies after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 could be a reason not to lean too heavily on potentially hostile powers for the UK’s energy needs.
Ms Jardin told The Scotsman: “If we look at the experience of the Germans with the Russian gas pipeline, [it] was used by the Russians to create an energy crisis.
“If the Scottish Government is going to go ahead with these projects, there needs to be protections.”
“One of them is that the [equipment] can only be switched on and off locally – that this country will have control over it [and] that they won’t have components in them that allow them to be switched off by China,” she added. “That is a big worry.”
Mingyang has been earmarked for a suggested £30 million investment by the Scottish Government’s economic development scheme over a three-year period, while Orient Cable is expected to relieve £27 million between 2026 and 2028.
The Labour government has been warned to be cautious about foreign investment from China amid its dogged drive towards international growth and net zero targets – even as Chancellor Rachel Reeves secured agreements worth £600 million during a trip to the East Asian country earlier this month.
Speaking in Parliament in December, Conservative frontbencher Lord Offord of Garvel stressed the need for the government’s pursuit of green power not to increase UK reliance on foreign states – as the prospect of a Chinese incursion into Taiwan continues to loom large.
Lord Offord said: “It is essential that our transition to net zero does not increase our reliance on foreign states, particularly not on hostile foreign states.
“I think we all want to see a Made in Britain transition, don’t we? Where offshore wind turbines are constructed by British manufacturing companies, erected by British high-skilled workers and deliver clean, cheap energy for British homes and businesses.”
A UK Government spokesperson told The Scotsman: “While we cannot comment on individual cases, investment in the energy sector is subject to the highest levels of national security scrutiny.
“Through Great British Energy, we are working closely with industry to build the supply chains needed to support a new era of clean homegrown power, securing energy independence and bringing jobs and wealth to every corner of Britain.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson added: “The UK Government is responsible for the application of the National Security and Investment Act and associated consideration of the security implications of potential foreign investment in energy related critical national infrastructure.
“Where public funding is being considered, companies undergo due diligence on a case-by-case basis, and investments are assessed against a broad range of criteria.”
