Great British Energy will be required to guarantee that none of its contractors or subcontractors rely on forced labour, after ministers agreed to table an amendment to the Great British Energy Bill.
The publicly-owned developer will now have a legal duty to police its global supply chain, positioning itself as a standard-bearer for ethical procurement in the race to build new low-carbon infrastructure.
The new clause builds on powers granted by the Procurement Act 2023, which already allow public bodies to bar bidders implicated in modern slavery. In practice it means Great British Energy can exclude any turbine, panel or battery supplier that cannot prove its products are free from coercion – an issue that has dogged the solar sector in particular because of documented abuses from some of the suppliers to Chinese manufacturers.
Michael Shanks, Energy Minister, commented, “Great British Energy will be an industry-leader in developing supply chains free of forced labour as it propels us in our clean energy superpower mission.
“Owned by and for the British public, Great British Energy will be an institution we can all be proud of as we build our clean energy future here in the UK.”
What the amendment does
Under the change, a senior executive will be appointed to oversee compliance, while the firm’s strategic plan will explicitly list ethical supply chains as a core objective.
The Government hopes the move will ripple beyond Great British Energy by tightening scrutiny across the renewables sector and signalling that cheap equipment produced under abusive conditions is no longer acceptable.
Whether it will be successful is a point of debate, however, with some sceptics fearing that the Government will be unable to procure sufficient solar panels without using materials from Xinjiang.
Chris Hewett, Chief Executive of Solar Energy UK, remains optimistic and has welcomed the measure, arguing that existing industry initiatives are already proving it is possible to scale up without compromising human rights. He noted, “The Solar Stewardship Initiative (SSI), which we developed with SolarPower Europe, is already having a real impact on the global supply chain.
“By the end of this year, SSI-certified manufacturing facilities will be able to produce 100 gigawatts of solar panels per year from independently-assessed sites that are not complicit in forced labour. That is around five times more than all of the UK’s existing solar panels put together, more than enough to meet both UK and EU demand. This number will continue to grow.
“Given progress in ensuring that the UK supply chain is free from solar panels produced with raw materials tainted by human rights abuses, we are confident that there will be no slowdown in solar deployment. The amendment poses no threat to the attainment of clean power by 2030, nor to reaching net zero by 2050.”
Will this see a boost for home-grown manufacturing?
Christophe Williams, Chief Executive of Naked Energy, said the change should accelerate domestic investment, “Ed Miliband is drawing an important line in the sand with this news. It’s a win for human rights, but also shows a commitment to British business. As a global community we have to reach net zero, but it mustn’t come at the cost of human suffering.
“This can’t be emphasised enough – the solutions to get us to net zero are already here, so we don’t need to be relying on technology coming from markets using slave labour.
“For example, over 90% of the materials needed to make solar thermal technology, which is crucial to decarbonise heating demand, comes from Europe, as opposed to solar PV where China has 80% of the solar manufacturing capacity.
“Today’s decision means there is no choice but to invest more in homegrown technology and create more jobs. This could have a significant impact – for example, with renewable heat networks, which are vital in making net zero a reality, the Heat Network Industry Council estimates that the sector could create between 20,000 and 35,000 direct additional jobs by 2050.
“What is needed is increased investment and attention from the Government. Locally manufactured technology benefits from strong labour laws, which protects workers, and a focus on it will create the domestic growth that the government is pushing for. It’s better for people, businesses and the planet.”
The decision by the UK Government could also help the UK from being flooded with low-priced panels from South East Asia after the United States implemented increased tariffs on solar panels from the region by up to 3,521%.
