The UK government is considering legal moves to block the use of turbines supplied by Chinese manufacturers to UK wind farms.
Foreign secretary David Lammy (pictured, left) told parliament yesterday (24 June) that measures provided by the National Security and Investment Act 2021 could be used to close off domestic markets.
Mingyang has been given priority status by the Scottish government’s Strategic Investment Model to build a factory and has also been heavily linked to a turbine deal for Flotation Energy and Vargronn’s 560MW Green Volt floating wind farm off Scotland, prompting fears among MPs over the involvement of Chinese companies in delivering critical national infrastructure.
“Through the NSIA 2021, we have a robust framework to make individual decisions such as the one on Mingyang,” said Lammy.
“Energy is one of 17 priority sectors under the NSIA in which the government can block any potential acquisitions on security grounds, and that remains under consideration.”
Lammy’s statement to the House of Commons followed the completion of a government audit into the UK’s relationship with China.
He said much of the detail “is not disclosable” to protect national interests and the effectiveness of the responses by ministers to threats that have been identified.
However, £600m will be invested in intelligence services and legislation could be tightened around national security, added Lammy.
He told MPs the audit had “provided ample evidence of the extent to which our economies are intertwined” with China being the UK’s third biggest trading partner and that the government’s approach would “always be guided by the UK’s long-term economic growth priorities”.