Go Chinese on offshore. Or don't. Either way trouble lies

Europe may need Chinese turbines to reach transition targets, but financing will be a struggle and going Chinese would damage local supply chains. Dive into the detail in this month's Energy transition Newsletter.

Over the past decade, China has not only deployed more wind power plants than any other geography, it has also built an industry to deliver the necessary turbines and is setting new standards for size and price.

At Monday’s UK and European Wind Energy Policy & Investment Summit in London, there was broad agreement that it was just a matter of time before the Chinese OEMs would be included in the European offshore roll-out which

The very same conference also included a good deal of discussion on how vitally important it was to establish and maintain home-grown turbine supply chains. However, subsidies and guarantees and the European Commission launching an investigation into whether Chinese OEMs are unfairly subsidised will matter little if the local developers turn their backs on? European manufacturing and the jobs.

On the face of it, non-Chinese OEMs are fighting a losing battle. In 2023, four of the five biggest wind OEMs measured on market share were Chinese, according to Wood Mackenzie, and 65 percent of all wind capacity coming online in 2023 did so in China. Furthermore, the Chinese industry is maturing.

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