Scotland needs advanced factories to reach zero carbon

The emerging requirements for sustainable power generation are already stimulating demand for advanced manufacturing facilities.

“The big decarbonisation, renewable energy, floating offshore wind, those are massive. Now the situation in Ukraine again highlights how important it is,” said Keith Ridgway, executive chair of the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS).

The ongoing need for sustainable energy sources will also probably create a need for small modular nuclear reactors, he said. This will further increase the need for large scale engineering. The likely increase in defence spending will further add to the demand for these capabilities.

“A massive danger is that that it doesn’t get locked in to Scotland or in to the UK,” he added.

One key will be an adequate provision of the right facilities.

“We will need more advanced manufacturing factories,” he told Real Asset Insight’s Richard Betts, adding that the skills are present in Scotland, along with the research capability, but if such projects are not to go to Korea, Japan and China infrastructure for large scale manufacturing will be needed.

Click on the video to watch the full interview or listen to the podcast below.