A MEGAFACTORY proposed for Dundee could be moved to America because of subsidies on offer under President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
The chief executive of Thurso-based battery manufacturer AMTE Power told Sky News the company is considering shifting production because the new US package of subsidies for green companies to make green technology makes the states more competitive.
The company announced the proposal to create a megafactory in the Scottish city in July last year. The plan is set to bring hundreds of new jobs to the area, creating 215 on-site positions and 800 roles in the wider supply chain during development and operations.
AMTE Power has a factory in Thurso that produces battery cells for use in electricity storage projects. It told investors and reporters that Dundee remains the preferred site for the proposed gigafactory.
The company produced of the world's very first lithium ion batteries at its Thurso plant.
"We are a home-grown UK business," chief executive Alan Hollis said. "We see ourselves as a UK company. We've developed the technology here. 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."
He added: "In the Inflation Reduction Act, the typical support for the running costs of a gigafactory would be between 30 and 50% of the operating costs.
"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."
Speaking in Dundee at the Scottish Trades Union Congress's annual conference, Humza Yousaf reacted to the news.
He said: "Well, I am concerned to hear that and I'll work with anyone right across the UK - with the other governments across this country - to see what can be done to try to attract inward investment to Scotland. Scotland has a very good track record of attracting inward investment, it's why I was sort of dismayed by recent UK government reports about trying to curtail some of that external activity.
"So 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 companies comments come after several companies have urged the UK Government to create a rival package of subsides.
However, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has so far rejected calls to react with a similar and competitive package of subsidies for green companies.
Writing in the Times last month he accused President Biden of leading a “distortive” global subsidy race and said that Britain would not go “toe-to-toe” with America and the European Union with subsidies and tax breaks and would instead favour a “pro-growth regulatory regime”.
The chancellor intends to reveal more details of his response to the US Inflation Reduction Act at the Autumn Statement later on this year.
