First Chinese turbines in German offshore farm cause concerns among Europe’s wind industry

A new offshore wind power project in the German North Sea is causing a stir in the European wind power industry, as the project will be the first of its kind to use Chinese-made wind turbines, news station n-tv reported. The “Waterkant” wind farm off the island of Borkum will deploy 16 large turbines by Chinese manufacturer Ming Yang Smart Energy and will “foster much-needed competition in the industry”, project developer Luxcara GmbH said. The turbines come with a capacity of 18.5 megawatts each which, according to Luxcara, makes them the “world's most powerful turbines”. The project is scheduled to be ready for operation by 2028. However, wind power industry representatives from Germany and the European association WindEurope have criticised the project, arguing it will not only weaken the business prospects of local manufacturers but also come with risks regarding data and energy supply security.

“I don’t want to imagine a world in which China can take German wind power turbines off the grid,” Bärbel Heidebroek, head of the German Wind Power Association (BWE), told n-tv. She argued that energy installations should be subjected to the same strict regulation as telecommunications technology. “China must not dominate and control these. And the same rules should apply for cybersecurity regarding wind power installations,” Heidebroek said. WindEurope head Giles Dickson told news agency Bloomberg that Germany, the EU and other European countries would have to “make up their minds whether wind power is considered a strategic sector before it’s too late”. He added that Europe’s domestic wind power industry would “stand ready to deliver turbines made in Europe”. WindEurope claims the fact that Chinese-made turbines are up to 50 percent cheaper than European ones is due to “unfair Chinese subsidies”.

The wind power industry is wary of Chinese competitors after seeing Europe’s domestic solar power industry largely succumbing to cheaper Chinese competition. Germany currently has an offshore wind power capacity of roughly 9 gigawatts (GW) and aims to increase this capacity to 30 GW by 2030. WindEurope said that up to 425 GW of capacity needs to be installed in European waters by 2050 to reach the bloc’s emissions reduction and renewable power production targets.