Build It or Buy It: Should Economies Make Their Own Clean-Energy Technology?

Clean-energy deployment depends on cells, batteries and electrolysers that are manufactured in a small number of countries. Several economies are deciding to reduce this concentration risk. Subsidy programmes across North America, Europe and Asia are building domestic capacity against incumbents whose cost advantage rests on scale. Localising shortens supply chains and builds industrial capability but takes years to reach competitive scale. Continuing to import keeps deployment fast and cheap but leaves it exposed to a handful of suppliers. The trade-off differs by technology and by component. Some parts of the chain have short learning curves and modest capital requirements, while others are dominated by producers operating at a scale no new entrant can match quickly. The debate will focus on supply security and industrial capability, the cost and speed of deployment, and where partnership offers a better route than either.