Brexit threatens to pull the plug on EU investment in a £1.6bn windfarm project in Fife, it has been claimed.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats said that cheap loans handed to UK infrastructure projects by the European Investment Bank can be vetoed by member states.
That is being made more likely by the Tories’ anti-EU rhetoric, which puts hundreds of millions of pounds of potential investment at risk, says the Lib Dems leader in Scotland Willie Rennie.
One of those projects is for a wind farm of up to 75 turbines, to be sited 15km off the Fife coast. The EIB is deciding whether to contribute an undisclosed sum to the £1.6bn scheme, but any decision will have to be ratified by EU countries.
Werner Hoyer, the president of the EIB, said that even if it continues to lend in the UK, he is “absolutely sure that the enormous volumes we have achieved over the last couple of years cannot be maintained”.
Mr Rennie said: “The president of the EIB has made clear that current levels of investment in the UK from the bank cannot be maintained and the divisive rhetoric we have seen from senior Tories will make it easy for other EU states to say no to new investment.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said: “The Liberal Democrats should stop speculating on speculation, and instead work to make Brexit a success for Scotland.
“There are no grounds for today’s concerns whatsoever.”
No-one at Mainstream Renewable Power, which is the project’s promoter, was available for comment.
Meanwhile, Scottish Secretary David Mundell has indicated Holyrood will not automatically be handed more powers when the UK leaves the EU.
He said the devolution settlement would undoubtedly be changed as a result of Brexit, but insisted how that would take shape would be “subject to debate and discussion”.
His stance contrasts claims by farming and fisheries minister George Eustice in the run-up to the referendum that Scotland would receive greater authority as a matter of course in the event of Brexit.