Renewables shift gives China ‘leverage’ over Britain, warn Lords

BRITAIN risks becoming in thrall to Beijing due to its growing reliance on renewable energy, a new Lords report has warned.

A House of Lords committee warned that Britain is becoming too dependent on China for the supply of rare earth elements used to manufacture wind turbines and solar panels. China’s control over the global industry creates “new risks” as it leaves Britain at the mercy of Beijing for supplies.

The Lords committee warned that Xi Jinping could use rare earth mineral supplies as “leverage” in negotiations over other issues. Jason Bordoff, of the Columbia Climate School, told the committee that China’s dominance in the critical minerals market was a “national security concern” and said the Government should work to reduce the nation’s reliance on Chinese exports.

The economic affairs committee issued the warning in a report on how the Government can secure the nation’s energy supply while delivering on promises to combat climate change.

The committee recommended more investment in the North Sea to deliver domestic supplies of oil and gas and encouraged policy measures to boost private investment in renewables.

But it warned that the country faces “new dependencies” with the shift to renewables as Western nations push ahead with plans to end imports of Russian gas.

China provides around 98pc of the EU’S requirement for rare earth metals used to build batteries, smartphones and offshore wind turbines.

The minerals are mined in many countries but Beijing has invested in the infrastructure required to process and export them globally.

Mark Carney, the former Bank of England governor, warned the Lords committee in April that China had “given a lot of thought and taken a lot of actions to secure supply” of key materials.

He said: “There are issues with supply chain concentrations. A lot of the technology and production comes out of China, so there is a heavy exposure to China, certainly in new solar, and there are heavy concentrations in rare earths and minerals, as you are aware.”