Chaired by James Brodie, Regional Director for Scotland and Commercial Director for Industrial at the China-Britain Business Council, the discussion featured insights from David Finnon, CTO of Red Rock Renewables; Chong Ng, Associate Director of Applied Research at the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (OREC); and Alex Grant, Partner at Pinsent Masons Law Firm. The panel examined the opportunities and challenges of integrating Chinese technology and expertise into the UK’s renewable energy landscape, with a particular focus on offshore wind.

James Brodie opened the discussion around the UK’s green transition by highlighting the UK’s leadership in offshore wind and China’s rapid rise in the sector. “The UK has been at the forefront of offshore wind globally, but China has now overtaken us in installed capacity. What more can Chinese suppliers and investors do to help the UK meet its net-zero targets?” he asked. The question set the stage for a conversation about collaboration, innovation, and the practicalities of integrating Chinese technology into UK projects.

David Finnon of Red Rock Renewables shared his experience of working on large-scale renewable energy projects, including a facility that will power half of Scotland’s homes. “We have two and a half years to get this project up and running,” he said. Finnon reflected on the challenges of bringing Chinese technology to the UK, recalling an attempt in 2011 to introduce Goldwind turbines. “It was like trying to plug a UK appliance into a Chinese socket—it just didn’t work. The technology had to be extensively modified, and for just three turbines, it wasn’t economically viable,” he explained. Finnon emphasised that while Chinese manufacturers are now more willing to adapt their products for international markets, success depends on volume and the establishment of local service networks. “It’s not just about plug-and-play; we need to build the infrastructure and expertise to support these turbines over their 30-year lifespan,” he said.

Finnon also highlighted the rapid evolution of offshore wind technology. “Fifteen years ago, turbines were 4 megawatts (MW); now, we’re looking at 15 MW turbines with blades as long as 236 metres. The scale of everything—turbines, ships, and installation equipment—has grown exponentially, and we’re struggling to keep up,” he said. Despite these challenges, Finnon expressed optimism about the potential for collaboration. “We’ve built strong relationships with our parent company in China, and that trust has been crucial. Recently, we closed a £3.5 billion deal for the Inch Cape project, which was driven by technical considerations rather than politics or funding,” he added.

Chong Ng of OREC echoed Finnon’s sentiments, emphasising the importance of collaboration and quality assurance. “Our aim is to catapult the offshore renewable sector forward. We’ve set up an investment fund to help UK companies explore opportunities in China and vice versa,” he said. Ng noted that while Chinese manufacturers are now more willing to modify their products for international markets, ensuring reliability remains a key challenge. “The industry is a small circle, and newcomers need to build relationships and trust. Quality is critical—if investors see that a product isn’t working, it undermines confidence,” he explained. Ng also highlighted the cost advantage of Chinese turbines, which are roughly one-third the price of European models. “If we can combine economies of scale with improved quality, we’ll find a middle ground that benefits everyone,” he said.

Ng raised an important question about the pace of innovation in the sector. “China installed the UK’s entire offshore wind capacity in just one year. They don’t need time to think—they just act. Meanwhile, European manufacturers are struggling to keep up,” he said. He warned against letting political agendas hinder progress. “If we’re too driven by politics, we risk missing out on a once-in-a-lifetime energy transition. Wind power is one of the most advanced forms of renewable energy, and if we cut off supply from China, where will we turn?” he asked.

Alex Grant of Pinsent Masons brought a legal perspective to the discussion, drawing on his experience working on 9 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity across Europe and Asia. “There are perceived risks when dealing with Chinese suppliers, but the market dynamics are broadly similar whether you’re in the Middle East or Europe,” he said. Grant highlighted the advantages of Chinese manufacturers, including lower unit costs and economies of scale, but acknowledged the challenges of bankability and quality assurance. “Developers need confidence in yield quantities and supplier responsiveness. These are areas where Chinese manufacturers are still building their reputation,” he explained.

Grant also addressed the shifting risk profile in supply contracts, which has made projects less bankable. “In recent years, there’s been a push to de-risk projects, but this has led to extreme positions that make it hard to achieve financial certainty. We need to find a more equitable allocation of risk,” he said. He compared the offshore wind industry to the oil and gas sector 60 years ago, noting that it is still in its infancy. “We’re innovating at an incredible pace, but that brings challenges. Developers are struggling to keep up with quality assurance as technology evolves,” he said.

The panel concluded with a consensus on the need for collaboration, trust, and a balanced approach to risk if the UK is to achieve a smooth green transition. James Brodie summarised the discussion by emphasising the importance of leveraging China’s industrial might to accelerate the UK’s green transition. “The UK and China have complementary strengths in the renewable energy sector. By working together, we can overcome technical and regulatory challenges and drive the global energy transition forward,” he said. As the world races to meet net-zero targets, the insights from this panel underscored the critical role of international collaboration in achieving a sustainable future.

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The potential for Sino-Scottish collaboration in renewable energy is vast. China, already the world’s largest producer of solar panels and wind turbines, is projected to account for 60% of global renewable energy generation by 2028. Meanwhile, Scotland, with its ambitious climate targets and abundant natural resources, is positioning itself as a hub for green energy innovation. Together, these two nations have the tools, talent and vision to accelerate the global transition to a sustainable future.

The Chinese advantage: Scale, technology, and investment

China’s dominance in renewable energy is no accident. Decades of strategic investment in clean energy technologies have made it the world’s largest producer of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, wind turbines, and battery storage systems. The country’s industrial might is unparalleled, with its factories churning out the components needed for large-scale renewable energy projects at a pace and cost that few other nations can match. For the UK, which is striving to meet its Net Zero targets by 2050, tapping into China’s manufacturing capabilities and technological expertise is not just an option – it’s a necessity.

Chen Xiaomeng, CEO of Redrock Renewables, a company with significant operations in Scotland, has seen firsthand the benefits of combining Chinese technology with Scottish innovation. His company’s Inch Cape offshore wind project, set to power one million homes, is a prime example of what can be achieved when these two nations work together. “China has become a testing ground for scaling new technologies, particularly in hydrogen,” Chen noted. “The UK, with its advanced regulatory frameworks and expertise in offshore wind is an ideal partner for deploying these technologies in the West.”

However, the partnership is not without its challenges. Chinese companies investing in the UK often face hurdles, including lengthy consent processes, policy uncertainty, and a skills shortage exacerbated by rapid industry growth. CNOOC, one of China’s largest energy companies, re-entered the renewables sector after a hiatus, but its representatives have pointed out that the fiscal regime in the North Sea is no longer as competitive as it once was. This makes it difficult to invest in speculative renewable projects, though opportunities with clear synergies remain attractive.

Sinopec and PetroChina, two other major Chinese energy players, have also expressed interest in the UK market, citing its connectivity to global energy giants like BP and Shell as a key draw. However, they too have highlighted the complexities of navigating the UK’s regulatory environment and the need for stable, long-term policy frameworks to encourage investment.

Bridging the skills gap: A shared challenge

One of the most pressing challenges facing the renewable energy sector – both in the UK and globally – is the skills gap. As the industry grows, so too does the demand for a workforce equipped with the technical expertise to design, build, and maintain renewable energy infrastructure. This is where collaboration between Chinese and Scottish educational institutions and training organisations can play a transformative role.

OPITO, a non-profit organisation that has long provided training for the oil and gas industry, is now leading efforts to support the transition to renewables. Its North Sea Transition Deal includes a people and skills programme aimed at ensuring an equitable transition for workers moving from fossil fuels to clean energy. Standardised training, OPITO argues, is essential to bridge the skills gap and ensure that the workforce is prepared for the challenges of the green economy.

In Scotland, educational institutions like North East Scotland College are also stepping up. The college has established a Green Energy Skills Hub, working with industry leaders like Shell and Robert Gordon University to provide transition courses for hundreds of students. “We are shifting our focus towards the renewable sector,” said Iain Cocker from the college. “Collaboration between academia and industry is key to equipping the next generation with the skills they need.”

Skills Development Scotland has also emphasised the importance of inspiring young people to pursue careers in renewable energy. Work-based learning and apprenticeships, they argue, will be crucial in building the workforce of the future. This is a challenge that China is also grappling with, as it seeks to standardise qualifications and training to support the development and deployment of hydrogen technologies and other emerging sectors.

Innovation and collaboration: The key to success

Innovation is at the heart of the renewable energy transition, and nowhere is this more evident than in Aberdeen’s Energy Transition Zone (ETZ). This ambitious initiative aims to create an integrated energy cluster that will support the transition to renewables over the next two decades. With a project pipeline that includes 17GW of floating offshore wind near Aberdeen, the ETZ is attracting significant investment and fostering collaboration between industry, academia, and government.

Logan Energy, a company focused on driving down costs in the renewable energy sector, has highlighted the importance of diversifying the supply chain. By working with developers and generators to reduce costs and improve efficiency, Logan Energy is demonstrating how international collaboration can lead to tangible benefits. “International standardisation is key to achieving our goals,” a representative noted. This sentiment is echoed by companies like Proserv, which is open to joint ventures with Chinese firms to provide the secure, local content required to meet concerns around inward investment.

The role of academia and policy

The University of Aberdeen, with its long-standing links to China, is playing a pivotal role in fostering collaboration. Established in 1495, the university has a rich history of working with Chinese institutions, including the Aberdeen Institute of Data Science and AI and the Confucius Institute. Professor Peter Edwards, a prominent academic at the university, has emphasised the importance of building on these historical ties to drive innovation in renewable energy. “Our notable alumni, including James Cantlay, James Legge, and Thomas Sutherland, have played a significant role in building bridges between our two nations,” he said. “Today, we are continuing that tradition through research partnerships and cultural exchanges.”

Policy support is also critical to the success of Sino-Scottish collaboration. Great British Energy, a venture launched in Aberdeen, aims to provide finance to projects where the private sector is unable to de-risk them. This is particularly important for oil and gas majors transitioning to renewables. By engaging with initiatives like Great British Energy, Chinese developers can explore new opportunities for collaboration and investment.

A bright future for collaboration

The potential for Sino-Scottish collaboration in renewable energy is immense. With 90% of oil and gas skills transferable to renewables, Aberdeen is well-positioned to lead the transition. By combining the talent pool and know-how of both nations, the challenges of the energy transition can be overcome. As the world moves towards a greener future, the spirit of collaboration between China and Scotland will be key to achieving global energy security and sustainability.

China’s industrial might, combined with Scotland’s innovative spirit and energy expertise, creates a powerful partnership that can drive the renewable energy revolution forward. By working together, these two nations can ensure a sustainable future for generations to come. As Lord Provost Dr Cameron aptly put it, “The combination of our expertise can help ensure a more sustainable future globally.” In the race to Net Zero, Sino-Scottish collaboration is not just an opportunity, it’s a necessity.

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At the 75th General Assembly of the UN, China announced that it was committing to reaching peak carbon emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. President Xi Jinping called for all countries to commit to innovative green development, stating that exploiting the environment with little concern for conservation was no longer an option.

Beijing is still thought of outside of China as one of the most polluted places on earth, but PM2.5 emissions – the main issue for the city – are a third of what they were a decade ago, with the falling trend continuing. The skies have turned blue, and we can, in part, attribute this improvement to China’s huge investment in green energy, a field in which the country has rapidly become a world leader. This has resulted in it becoming effectively essential to global green energy supply chains.

PV energy supply chains

No sector highlights China’s centrality to global renewable energy more than the solar energy industry. China currently supplies around 90% of the world’s photovoltaic modules, giving the country tremendous leverage over future energy markets globally.

If you need tangible evidence of China’s investment in renewable energy, look no further than Golmud Solar Park in Qinghai province. With a capacity of 2.8 gigawatts, it is the largest solar power plant in the world. It is, however, not the only mega solar power plant in the country. The Tenger Desert Solar Park in Ningxia province has a capacity of 1.5 gigawatts and spreads across 43 square kilometres.

China is the world’s largest exporter of renewable energy infrastructure, responsible for 90% of the global photovoltaic cell supply and 50% of wind turbines. This means that China is absolutely essential to the global renewable energy market. With increasing pressure from international organisations such as the IPCC to take the climate crisis more seriously in at least the short to mid-term, China is effectively the green energy transition factory until other countries grow their renewable energy manufacturing sectors.

The pace at which China has become the key player in global PV supply is as startling as its current scale. A report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows how, between 2010 and 2021, China’s share of global demand skyrocketed from 3.5% to 36%. Meanwhile, former spearhead Europe toppled from representing 80.4% of global demand to a mere 16.8%. Over the same period, the share of every core element in the supply chain has become concentrated in China.

Source – IEA

This pole position was achieved through a number of factors, the first of which is huge investment. China was responsible for nearly half of global clean energy investment in 2022, investing US$ 546 billion. The EU, as the second largest spender on clean energy, invested US$ 180 billion, less than a third of China’s total.

Then comes economies of scale. China has fulfilled a role as ‘the world’s factory’ for decades now and has formidable manufacturing expertise. It also has the space to build infrastructure at a scale unfeasible for most countries, as proven by its PV mega projects.

China’s geographical size and characteristics mean it has an abundance of the raw materials essential to PV components. The charts above from the IEA show, for example, how China has increased its production of polysilicon to over three quarters of the global supply. Data from Statista show that 98% of Europe’s rare earth imports (which it does not produce itself) originated from China in 2021.

China’s green transition and the UK

China may be ahead in zero-carbon technologies, but for the UK, there is an opportunity for collaboration. Thankfully, the potential and will are high, with each country offering its own expertise and sharing a common goal in leading the pursuit of carbon neutrality.

The urgency of the green transition adds to competition in both an economic and political sense, and China sees opportunity in this. Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the LSE Grantham Research Institute, told FOCUS: “China recognises the green transition as a race. The growing market for zero-carbon technologies and materials is a massive new economic opportunity. China has recognised this and is moving ahead more quickly than many of its competitors, including Europe and the US.”

On a global level, competition with China could play a key role in driving down the cost of the transition. “Competition can help to bring costs down further. Some people have argued that if China drops the costs so dramatically, it effectively puts everyone else out of business,” Ward added. “We have seen in the past companies seeking to develop monopolies – they put their competitors out of business and then control the costs and can put up prices. The experience with Solar PV is that China didn’t do that. They are simply aiming to beat everyone and become the world’s supplier.”

Although progress may have slowed, partnerships between the UK and China in green energy go back a decade. In 2013, the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government signed an MoU for cooperation in offshore wind projects. Offshore wind is very much a success story of China-UK energy cooperation. The UK is considered a world leader in offshore energy, but behind the scenes is Chinese investment and energy storage projects. The largest lithium battery storage plant in Europe was set up in the UK in 2021 using technology from the Chinese firm Sungrow.

One of Sungrow’s most recent UK projects sees the transformation of a decommissioned coal energy plant into a green battery storage unit in Ferrybridge, West Yorkshire. It is expected to be able to supply the national grid with 300MWh of capacity upon completion in 2024. The project is thus more than a contribution to the UK grid – it has a symbolic value in tangibly transforming a site of former fossil fuel energy into a green one.

The UK is also a world leader in green finance, with London ranking as the top green financial centre globally in the 2023 Green Finance Index. This offers clear synergy with China’s capital-intensive manufacturing expertise and a potentially global reach of positive impact.

In a recent report, Baillie Gifford, a CBBC member company, long-term investor in China and ESG expert, states that despite the rapid growth in ESG investing and infrastructure to support it, there are still significant knowledge gaps to making sound ESG decisions in the China market. Among the points of their overall ESG due diligence checklist are specific sustainability questions: Does a company disclose carbon emissions and set a carbon reduction target? Is the company compliant with the UN Global Compact?

Baillie Gifford’s China Growth Trust 2023 report highlights the difference that targeted ESG finance can have on decarbonising investment. On a measure of weighted average carbon intensity comparing their China portfolio to an average index, the portfolio had an 85% lower carbon intensity. The portfolio includes multiple firms engaged in renewable energy supply chains, from component suppliers to EV battery producers.

The climate crisis is a global issue, demanding global cooperation. With green energy supply chains very much focused in China, the UK will need to collaborate if it is to meet its own green targets. As the London Environment strategy targets a carbon-neutral capital by 2050, much inspiration can be drawn from the newly blue skies of Beijing.

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