The government has unlocked £7.5 billion of investment into key growth sectors as the Minister for Investment signed a new deal with the Sumitomo Corporation in Tokyo…reports Asian Lite News
The United Kingdom has clinched a landmark commitment from Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo Corporation to channel up to £7.5 billion into British offshore wind and hydrogen projects by 2035, in what ministers hailed as a “major vote of confidence” in the government’s industrial reboot.
Investment Minister Baroness Poppy Gustafsson signed the memorandum of understanding in Tokyo on Wednesday alongside Sumitomo’s Energy Transformation Group chief executive Hajime Mori and the firm’s Europe head Hiroyuki Koike. The deal is the centrepiece of a week-long trade mission to South Korea and Japan aimed at drumming up fresh overseas capital.
Under the agreement, Sumitomo will act as a lead arranger for equity and debt packages that could unlock billions for UK clean-energy schemes over the next decade. The corporation, one of Japan’s five largest trading houses, already holds stakes in British battery storage, solar and district-heating ventures, but officials said the new pledge marks a “step-change” in scale.
Baroness Gustafsson said the partnership “shows our Plan for Change is working” and would “create high-value jobs while turbo-charging our world-leading offshore wind and hydrogen sectors”. The minister added that the government’s recently published Modern Industrial Strategy and 10-Year Infrastructure Strategy had given investors the “certainty and stability” needed for long-term commitments.
Sumitomo’s Mori told reporters that the UK’s designation of clean energy as a priority sector under the new industrial blueprint had been “instrumental” in securing the fresh capital. “We will continue to leverage our global network and financial firepower to accelerate the energy transition in Britain,” he said.
Koike praised Whitehall’s “active promotion of private investment”, adding that the memorandum would “further strengthen the relationship between the UK government and Sumitomo Corporation”.
The announcement comes days after Deloitte’s latest survey of global chief financial officers found the UK tied with the United States as the most attractive destination for foreign capital. It also builds on a series of recent UK-Japan initiatives, including the Industrial Strategy Partnership and Economic 2+2 dialogue launched earlier this year and Britain’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which the Treasury estimates could add £2 billion annually to GDP in the long run.
Officials said the Sumitomo pledge would focus on shovel-ready offshore wind farms in the North Sea and emerging green-hydrogen hubs in Scotland and Teesside. The projects are expected to support thousands of construction and engineering roles, while bolstering domestic supply chains for turbines, electrolysers and high-voltage cables.
The Department for Business and Trade noted that the UK’s trading relationship with the wider Asia-Pacific region is now worth more than £135 billion a year, with Japan alone accounting for over £27 billion of goods and services in 2024. Britain is already the largest European recipient of Japanese investment, with more than 1,400 Japanese firms employing around 170,000 people across the country.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, speaking from Westminster, said the deal “proves that clean power is not just good for the planet—it is central to our growth mission”. He added that the government would “leave no stone unturned in mobilising the private capital needed to make Britain a clean-energy superpower”.
Sumitomo’s commitment is the latest in a flurry of overseas pledges since the general election, including a £10 billion semiconductor investment from the United States and a £6 billion data-centre expansion by Singaporean investors. Treasury officials are preparing a new “Invest in Britain” roadshow for the autumn, targeting sovereign wealth funds in the Gulf and pension funds in Canada.
Baroness Gustafsson will conclude her Asia tour on Friday after additional meetings in Osaka and Seoul, where she is expected to unveil further memoranda covering life sciences and advanced manufacturing.
