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The National
9 hours ago
- Business
- The National
Have your say on plans to expand offshore wind capacity in Scotland
Proposals from the Scottish Government would see the country's offshore wind capacity increase to up to 40 gigawatts (GW) by 2040 – enough to power the equivalent of around 45 million homes a year. Scotland's current offshore wind capacity ambition is between 8 and 11 GW by 2030 and the Scottish Government says the new figure seeks to reaffirm its commitment to growing the sector. Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy Gillian Martin announced the opening of the consultation at the Global Offshore Wind Forum in London on Wednesday. READ MORE: Scotland can 'go beyond mitigating Westminster' with minimum income guarantee Martin said: 'Scotland's offshore wind sector is already creating significant opportunities, delivering jobs and attracting major investment across the country. 'As a result we need to update our ambition for offshore wind to reflect and firmly underline our commitment to economic growth and investment offered by the sector. 'I would urge everyone with an interest in offshore wind to have a say in the consultation.' As well as supporting national climate targets, the increase being consulted upon reflects significant private sector interest in the ScotWind and the Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) seabed leasing rounds, the Government said. Ministers said the success of these leasing rounds symbolises "the enormous economic potential of offshore wind" and puts Scotland "at the forefront of development globally". The consultation document says: "We want to see the maximum possible deployment of the Scottish offshore wind project pipeline, whilst balancing the impact on the marine environment and other marine users. READ MORE: LIVE: Fans gather for Kneecap member Mo Chara's court appearance "Now is the right time to highlight key achievements and developments since 2020, and to set out an updated ambition for Scotland alongside our plans to ensure that the benefits of offshore wind will be felt for generations to come." The consultation will run until August 13. To share your views, click here.
Scotsman
21-04-2025
- Business
- Scotsman
Scunthorpe cast long shadow over wind plans
The crisis at the British Steel plant may have repercussions for wind power plans north of the border, writes Jeremy Grant Sign up to our Scotsman Money newsletter, covering all you need to know to help manage your money. Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... At first blush, Scunthorpe may seem unconnected with Scotland. But the two are linked by something unexpected: China. A steel worker at one of the Scunthorpe blast furnaces (Picture: Darren Staples/PA Wire) Ever since the UK Government passed emergency legislation allowing it to seize control of British Steel's plant in the Lincolnshire town after it emerged that its furnaces would soon have to shut, attention has focused on the role of Jingye, the plant's Chinese owner. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Politicians and others have questioned the wisdom of allowing Chinese involvement in the UK's critical energy infrastructure. If the country's sole remaining plant making virgin steel was this close to permanently closing because its Chinese owner wasn't willing to keep it supplied with feedstock, didn't this expose questionable dependency on China? Jeremy Grant is a freelance writer and former Financial Times journalist In Scotland, a related issue looms. Another Chinese company, Mingyang, is one of the country's leading manufacturers of offshore wind turbines. It has seized on the opportunity presented by Scotland's ambitious plan to develop dozens of wind farms in the North Sea known as ScotWind and INTOG. The Guangdong-based company wants to build a turbine blade factory in the Inverness area to supply those wind farms, most of them floating platforms in deep waters. Mingyang's plans – first signalled in a memorandum of understanding signed with the former Conservative government in 2021 – await approval from Westminster. Before Scunthorpe erupted, the decision was a finely balanced one between satisfying security concerns and Labour's desire to secure inward investment in renewable energy, including from China, the world leader in renewables. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The security issue centres on the fact that the operational software embedded in a turbine remains in control of the manufacturer even after it has been installed in a wind farm. Some fear this could be used as a tool of economic coercion by Beijing. A dependency issue arises because Mingyang is the only company that can currently supply floating wind turbines on a scale needed for ScotWind developers' business plans. On a visit to Beijing only weeks before Scunthorpe – the first to China by a UK energy secretary for eight years – Ed Miliband signed a memorandum with Wang Hongzhi, head of China's National Energy Administration, to refresh a ten-year-old bilateral energy partnership. At the time, Miliband said this 'signals a shift in the dial in re-engaging with China'. Yet the Scunthorpe crisis risks throwing this calculus off course. China has already hit back, with its London embassy describing the 'anti-China rhetoric' of some British politicians over Jingye as 'extremely absurd' reflecting their 'arrogance, ignorance and twisted mindset'. This is all playing out as Labour needs investment for its 'Clean Power 2030' goals, and as Starmer and his leader in Scotland, Anas Sarwar, face an uphill struggle against a resurgent Scottish National Party ahead of Holyrood elections next year. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad John Swinney, First Minister, and his deputy Kate Forbes have woven offshore wind in to their speeches to a degree that implies it has become as important to the cause as North Sea oil used to be. Holyrood has earmarked £30 million in taxpayer funding for the Mingyang factory. A Chinese proverb seems fitting, describing how hard choices are often needed in life: 'One cannot have both the fish and the bear paw'.
