EXCLUSIVE: Only four of the 29 parent companies involved in ScotWind are headquartered in the UK.
Offshore wind is becoming an increasingly large part of the UK’s energy mix(Image: Holger Leue)
Scotland risks “squandering” profits from its offshore wind farms as the majority are being built by foreign investors, the SNP Government has been warned.
An industry report found just four of the 29 parent companies involved in ScotWind are headquartered in the UK, which own less than a quarter of total capacity. The rest are controlled by firms based abroad – meaning their profits flow overseas.
ScotWind is the name given to the leasing of Scotland’s seabed to companies who want to build offshore wind farms. In 2022, the SNP Government awarded rights to develop 20 new offshore projects expected to deliver around 30GW of capacity.
Analysis by the Future Economy Scotland think-tank has now revealed for the first time who owns the companies involved.
Six of the 29 parent companies that own ScotWind developers are foreign state-owned firms, which collectively own 12 per cent of total ScotWind capacity. This includes national governments of Ireland, Sweden and Denmark, as well as regional governments in Germany and Belgium.
But the Scottish Government does not own any ScotWind capacity.
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The world’s biggest asset manager, BlackRock, is a top ten shareholder in 14 out of 20 ScotWind projects, while its rival Vanguard is a top ten shareholder in 15.
Laurie Macfarlane, co-director of Future Economy Scotland, said: “Scotland’s offshore wind is one of our greatest natural assets, yet ScotWind handed control to fossil fuel giants, asset managers and foreign governments.
“Absurdly, Ireland’s government owns more Scottish offshore wind than the Scottish Government does – meaning ScotWind profits will support public spending over the Irish sea, but not in Scotland.
“The UK squandered its oil and gas wealth – we cannot repeat the same mistake with renewables. While the Scottish Government secured £755m from developers in up-front fees, this is a drop in the ocean compared to the profits that lie ahead.
“The Scottish Government must take public equity stakes in offshore wind to ensure our people share in the benefits of our resources.”
The industry figures used in the report were compiled by the Common Wealth think.
Sophie Flinders, who led the research, said: “Our findings show that the Scottish shores are not open for business, they are up for sale. Rather than building publicly owned offshore wind farms directly, the state has allowed fossil fuel giants, financial institutions, and foreign state-owned companies to reap the rewards from this new era of renewable energy.
“The Scottish Government should take control of offshore wind farm development to make sure that the benefits of these projects can be reinvested into Scottish communities and to help ensure the benefit of cheaper energy are passed directly onto households.”
The Record asked the Scottish Government for comment.
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