AMTE Power, the last homegrown battery producer in the UK, is said to be considering moving the site of its new battery gigafactory, proposed to be built in Dundee, to the US.
In 2022, the US government announced a series of green production subsidies as part the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The act offers tax credits of around $40bn for companies investing in and producing green power solutions in the country.
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UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt has said that the UK will not implement competitive subsidies for fear of a trade war. Hunt instead said the UK will favour a “pro-growth regulatory regime,” as opposed becoming embroiled in competition with its rivals.
The battery gigafactory proposal would create 215 on-site jobs, plus a further 800 across the supply chain.
“We have to ask the question”
AMTE executive Alan Hollis stated: “The answer is perfectly clear [about] where the most economic place for the gigafactory will be. We don’t have a competitive environment in the UK at this moment in time.”
He continued: “We see ourselves as a UK company … We want to commercialise the technology here and we want to manufacture the product here. But we have to ask the question if the subsidies are available overseas.”
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By GlobalData“I am concerned to hear that and I’ll work with anyone right across the UK … to see what can be done to try to attract inward investment to Scotland,” said Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf. “I’ll see whatever we can do within our gift, within our powers, limited as they may be, to try and ensure that that investment comes back to Dundee.”
The onset of the IRA has stoked concerns that more UK manufacturers might be considering shifting the US too. The IRA incentivises all green technology manufacturing under its provisions.
