UK secures $10 billion clean energy investment deal with Japan's Sumitomo Corp
FILE PHOTO: Logos of Sumitomo Corp are seen after the company's initiation ceremony at its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan April 2, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo
LONDON :Britain secured a deal to unlock 7.5 billion pound ($10 billion) in investments with Japan's Sumitomo Corp, funding clean energy infrastructure such as offshore wind and hydrogen projects over the next 10 years, the government said on Wednesday.
Investment minister Poppy Gustafsson announced the deal during a trip to Japan, which she described as a huge trading partner.
Gustafsson said Sumitomo was historically a big investor in UK energy projects and the new agreement would "really raise the bar of ambition" in areas like power grids or wind farm investments.
"Everything that we're building... you very quickly come to supply chain constraints, and they've been real partners in helping unlock those constraints," she told Reuters in an interview ahead of the trip.
"So there's real tactical examples of this capital getting deployed to build real things and supporting real projects."
The Labour government has prioritised private sector support for planned energy investments, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer seeks to chart a path to net zero while lifting Britain's anaemic growth.
That path has been complicated by the announcement of tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump. Britain has struck a deal to remove certain tariffs, but Japan faces fresh tariffs.
Gustafsson said the international trading environment was now "front of mind" in investment decisions.
"It's really putting at the top of their list the value that nations have on trade and investment and making sure they preserve that," she said, saying she sought a role for Britain as a "central hub" for discussions in a fragmented environment.
($1 = 0.7362 pounds)
