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http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/u...cle3345667.ece
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/u...cle3345667.ece
Scotland could become the “tiger economy” of green energy and a global centre for renewables after the UK Government’s decision to locate the new £3 billion Green Investment Bank in Edinburgh, experts believe.
Finance and electricity industry leaders hailed the announcement yesterday by Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, as a “fantastic” chance for Scotland to become a world leader in wind, wave and tidal energy.
Mr Cable announced that the bank, which will provide funding for green energy projects and initially employ 50-70 people, would have its headquarters in Edinburgh with a transaction team handling the mechanics of assembling finance deals in London. It is understood that the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg played a key role in ensuring that the headquarters was located outside London.
In a competition announced by the UK Government, a list of 32 locations was whittled down to six, from which London and Edinburgh emerged as the leading contenders.
The bank, which is expected to start work in earnest later this year, will have £3 billion to invest in projects to begin with, but its funding is due to grow to £15 billion in 2015, provided it passes EU state aid rules.
Mr Cable said: “Harnessing the strengths of Edinburgh and London will support the Green Investment Bank’s ambition to become a world leader. Edinburgh has a thriving green sector and respected expertise in areas such as asset management. London, as the world’s leading financial centre, will ensure that the bank’s transaction team can hit the ground running.”
The bank is a financial innovation intended to meet the challenge of modernising Britain’s electricity system, which needs some £200 billion of investment over the next decade, at a time when money is in short supply after the 2008 financial crisis.
The bank’s job is to use its £3 billion to lever much greater sums from private investors into green energy projects such as offshore wind and wave farms by reducing the risk that investors in such schemes face.
Angus Macpherson, head of investment banking at Espirito Santo Investment Bank, which is heavily involved in green investment, said that Edinburgh now had all the ingredients necessary to become a pre-eminent global centre in green energy.
“If you look at how Hyderabad, Bangalore and Silicon Valley became world centres in information technology,” he said, “there was an industry there with finance and also intellectual know-how in research all focused in a relatively small place. They were also away from conventional centres, which seemed to encourage unconventional thinking. If you get all three working together, as is already happening in Edinburgh, you have the basis for developing a significant centre of expertise.”
Keith Anderson, chief corporate officer of ScottishPower, said: “Scotland has some of the best renewable energy resources in Europe, with major potential for wind, wave and tidal power. It has also become a hub for investment in renewables, with many global firms taking up residence here. He added: “We hope that the green bank will be a catalyst for investment in renewable energy across Britain, and will help to position Scotland as a tiger economy in renewables.”
Rob Cormie, managing director of Quayle Munro, the independent corporate financiers, said that having an arm of the bank in London would help bring money from around the world into Scottish investment projects.
“Edinburgh has built up a major centre for project finance, a lot of it based on renewables finance. London is the world’s centre for capital and the capital needed in Scotland and the UK will all come via London,” he said.
Alex Salmond said that the decision recognised Scotland’s position at the vanguard of the renewables revolution. “It demonstrates the effectiveness of the unity built across the political spectrum, across all parts of Scotland with support from Glasgow and Edinburgh city councils, and across our universities, to argue Edinburgh’s and Scotland’s case,” he said.
“It also demonstrates the importance of the £103 million from Scotland’s fossil fuel levy that we agreed to support the capitalisation of the Green Investment Bank. This is a good early return on Scotland’s investment.”
Michael Moore, the Scottish Secretary, said: “The size and scale of the UK’s single energy market ensures the level of investment that will unlock Scotland’s renewables future, providing sustainable and affordable green energy across the UK.”
The bank will now recruit a chairman and senior independent director plus the staff it needs to become operational in the autumn, but investment is to start immediately through UK Green Investment, a quango.
Niall Stuart, chief executive of Scottish Renewables, said: “This announcement reinforces Scotland’s place at the top table of renewable energy development and finance, with technologies such as wave and tidal making the important transition from single devices to full commercial scale projects.”
Finance and electricity industry leaders hailed the announcement yesterday by Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, as a “fantastic” chance for Scotland to become a world leader in wind, wave and tidal energy.
Mr Cable announced that the bank, which will provide funding for green energy projects and initially employ 50-70 people, would have its headquarters in Edinburgh with a transaction team handling the mechanics of assembling finance deals in London. It is understood that the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg played a key role in ensuring that the headquarters was located outside London.
In a competition announced by the UK Government, a list of 32 locations was whittled down to six, from which London and Edinburgh emerged as the leading contenders.
The bank, which is expected to start work in earnest later this year, will have £3 billion to invest in projects to begin with, but its funding is due to grow to £15 billion in 2015, provided it passes EU state aid rules.
Mr Cable said: “Harnessing the strengths of Edinburgh and London will support the Green Investment Bank’s ambition to become a world leader. Edinburgh has a thriving green sector and respected expertise in areas such as asset management. London, as the world’s leading financial centre, will ensure that the bank’s transaction team can hit the ground running.”
The bank is a financial innovation intended to meet the challenge of modernising Britain’s electricity system, which needs some £200 billion of investment over the next decade, at a time when money is in short supply after the 2008 financial crisis.
The bank’s job is to use its £3 billion to lever much greater sums from private investors into green energy projects such as offshore wind and wave farms by reducing the risk that investors in such schemes face.
Angus Macpherson, head of investment banking at Espirito Santo Investment Bank, which is heavily involved in green investment, said that Edinburgh now had all the ingredients necessary to become a pre-eminent global centre in green energy.
“If you look at how Hyderabad, Bangalore and Silicon Valley became world centres in information technology,” he said, “there was an industry there with finance and also intellectual know-how in research all focused in a relatively small place. They were also away from conventional centres, which seemed to encourage unconventional thinking. If you get all three working together, as is already happening in Edinburgh, you have the basis for developing a significant centre of expertise.”
Keith Anderson, chief corporate officer of ScottishPower, said: “Scotland has some of the best renewable energy resources in Europe, with major potential for wind, wave and tidal power. It has also become a hub for investment in renewables, with many global firms taking up residence here. He added: “We hope that the green bank will be a catalyst for investment in renewable energy across Britain, and will help to position Scotland as a tiger economy in renewables.”
Rob Cormie, managing director of Quayle Munro, the independent corporate financiers, said that having an arm of the bank in London would help bring money from around the world into Scottish investment projects.
“Edinburgh has built up a major centre for project finance, a lot of it based on renewables finance. London is the world’s centre for capital and the capital needed in Scotland and the UK will all come via London,” he said.
Alex Salmond said that the decision recognised Scotland’s position at the vanguard of the renewables revolution. “It demonstrates the effectiveness of the unity built across the political spectrum, across all parts of Scotland with support from Glasgow and Edinburgh city councils, and across our universities, to argue Edinburgh’s and Scotland’s case,” he said.
“It also demonstrates the importance of the £103 million from Scotland’s fossil fuel levy that we agreed to support the capitalisation of the Green Investment Bank. This is a good early return on Scotland’s investment.”
Michael Moore, the Scottish Secretary, said: “The size and scale of the UK’s single energy market ensures the level of investment that will unlock Scotland’s renewables future, providing sustainable and affordable green energy across the UK.”
The bank will now recruit a chairman and senior independent director plus the staff it needs to become operational in the autumn, but investment is to start immediately through UK Green Investment, a quango.
Niall Stuart, chief executive of Scottish Renewables, said: “This announcement reinforces Scotland’s place at the top table of renewable energy development and finance, with technologies such as wave and tidal making the important transition from single devices to full commercial scale projects.”
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