Exclusive:Kate Forbes demands UK decision on MingYang wind investment to end 'vacuum' amid 'frustration'

The Deputy First Minister, who has signalled her government’s support for MingYang’s £1.5bn investment earmarked for Ardersier, subject to national security concerns being addressed, told Scotland on Sunday she was “frustrated by how long the decision has taken”.

Ms Forbes, who is also the Scottish Government’s economy secretary, has admitted that Shell’s decision to hand back a ScotWind contract to Crown Estate Scotland had “certainly knocked morale”, but insisted “the antidote to Shell is to try and accelerate projects moving through”.

The SNP MP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, who is stepping down at May’s Holyrood election, has told whoever takes over the reins to drive investment into clean energy not to “try and rewrite strategies or new action plans” but “be practical in delivering the solutions”.

READ MORE: Fears SNP's ScotWind at risk of collapse without Chinese firm MingYang's Highlands factory approval

She also lavished praise on UK Scottish Labour energy minister, Michael Shanks, of whom she said she was “a real fan”. But Ms Forbes warned that “the problem is I’m not sure he’s at the top of the tree to make the decisions” in the UK government, pointing to UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and the Treasury under Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ authority.

Last month, Chinese turbine giant MingYang confirmed it was pressing ahead with its £1.5bn plans to open a factory in the Highlands, despite not yet receiving the green light from the UK government to proceed over national security concerns.

Despite the previous UK government signing a memorandum of understanding with MingYang in 2021 to enter the energy market, which has now expired, the Conservatives and other political opponents have hit out at the Labour administration for not ruling out Chinese investment in wind power infrastructure because of cyber and national security concerns.

Chinese companies have invested in UK nuclear power developments, as well as battery storage projects.

Energy giants behind the Scottish Government’s flagship ScotWind offshore projects have told Scotland on Sunday that developments could be put at risk if the MingYang factory is blocked.

Ms Forbes, who Scotland on Sunday previously revealed as having met with MingYang, alongside John Swinney and other ministers and officials over the investment, has now called on the UK government to determine one way or another if the investment, which would provide 1,500 jobs, can proceed.

READ MORE: Revealed: How SNP ministers have wooed controversial Chinese firm MingYang for floating wind investment

“We are frustrated by how long the decision has taken”, she said.

“It has been quite some time now and in that vacuum, there are all sorts of debates happening.

“Investors abhor uncertainty and it's creating uncertainty. There's a lot of elements of the supply chain that are watching what happens with MingYang before they make decisions themselves.”

Ms Forbes added: “If we don't have manufacturing here in Scotland, it's highly likely that developers will procure it from European hubs.

“If an inward investor chooses not to go to Scotland and instead goes elsewhere in Europe, there's nothing to say that a developer doesn't go and procure it from another European hub and use it irrespective.

“These decisions have to be made and we respect the process. But all of this industry, at the moment, is worried about the uncertainty. So the faster the UK government can provide some certainty, the more decisions that can be made by other parts of the supply chain that might be watching or waiting.”

Last week, Ms Forbes used the Investment Association conference in Edinburgh to launch a new portal to make it easier for international investors to participate in a range of major projects being planned or already under way.

The move comes amid frustration at more than 30 different websites investors have been faced with when wanting to navigate how to push forward with plans.

Ms Forbes said the InvestScotland portal was “a gateway to the biggest and best investment opportunities in one place”, ensuring that “an investor is not scrolling through multiple websites”.

Last month, Shell handed back a flagship offshore wind project to Crown Estate Scotland - with the 3GW CampionWind development no longer going ahead unless another company comes forward to take it on.

“I think it certainly knocked morale”, Ms Forbes said.

“What we can’t have is any momentum building around developers or investors pulling back. We need to protect against that. Which I think the antidote to Shell is to try and accelerate projects moving through.”

Concerns have been raised about the lack of a manufacturing base for wind turbines in Scotland - with an acknowledgement that the potentially-vast economic benefits of the offshore boom, and thousands of jobs, will only be fully realised if structures and parts are fabricated domestically.

READ MORE: Will Chinese turbine national security concerns derail Scotland's floating wind ambitions?

Ms Forbes stressed there have been some “early movers” on manufacturing, pointing to Sumatomo’s £350m cable factory at the Port of Nigg, alongside other investors at Ardersier, Cromarty and Kishorn.

“They’ve actually moved ahead confidently, but at risk”, she added.

“They’ve made the decisions in advance of all the big contracts coming. That’s the only way we will get a share of the jobs.

“If you wait until the developments get through and then start to build a factory, you miss the opportunity. That developer wants to start construction at speed and will look to where a factory exists and that may be overseas.

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“They have done the right thing. But in doing the right thing, I think we should essentially recognise and acknowledge that by trying to get projects and developments through at speed. Other manufacturing investors and developers are looking to see if they should make the same decision.”

The Scottish Government has committed up to £500m over five years to develop the country’s ports and offshore wind supply chain, amid hopes it will boost confidence of developers bringing forward crucial offshore developments.

Speculation has mounted that MingYang is being considered as the preferred supplier of the Green Volt development off the North East coast - which will be the world’s largest commercial-scale floating offshore wind farm.

Vestas, which has proposed a blade factory in Leith, is still to make a final investment decision, with industry insiders believing permission for the huge Berwick Bank wind farm approved in August, would be a linchpin in getting that investment over the line.

Ms Forbes said: “I want to give as much confidence as possible to the supply chain to make early investment decisions.

“I’ve always thought they will come if they start to see more progress. Some of the early decisions in terms of Green Volt and others did give that early confidence, I think.

“Ultimately, when they start seeing projects coming through the pipeline, it will be a commercial decision that they take because they will see the opportunity.”

A UK government spokesperson said: “This is one of a number of companies that wants to invest in the UK. Any decisions made will be consistent with our national security.”