Politics
26 Jan 2023
The wind turbine manufacturer sees China's growing dominance in the wind energy sector as its biggest threat.
Begging for quotas: In the Financial Times, the managing director of one of Europe's largest wind turbine companies argues for quotas for wind turbines manufactured in the EU. He argues for a certain proportion of wind turbines in EU member states to be made in Europe.
"If our product is important for the infrastructure of our countries, then it is certain, not 100 percent, but certainly for a certain proportion of installations [in Europe], that you have to have these things," says Jochen Eickholt, CEO of Siemens Gamesa, on European energy independence in times of crisis
"That means you have to know how to operate and produce these things," he argues.
So if there are geopolitical tensions or disruptions in the production chain, Europe "may not have the cheapest answer, but it can have an answer".
Risk Factor
Uneven playing field. Eickholt believes that there is "a definite risk" that the wind turbine market will become similar to the solar panel sector. Which, both in terms of the production chain and trade, is almost entirely dominated by Chinese companies.
"We have to see that we are facing Chinese competition in the whole world market and also increasingly in Europe," the CEO added.
He added that Chinese manufacturers have often "received additional support, mainly from national or regional sources". Their spending on innovation is in some cases ten times higher than in Europe.
"At the end of the day, we feel that the battle is not balanced, or at least that we are not given the same chances here," said Eickholt, "We are asking for a level playing field.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has already warned of this situation in its July report.
The figures
In concrete terms. According to the Global Wind Energy Council, leading Chinese manufacturers accounted for 53.5% of new global turbine installations last year, compared to 36.6% in 2018.
For solar panels, China now has a global market share of as much as 80% at all stages of production.
The IEA warns that the early stages of the manufacturing process could soon be 95% Chinese-owned.
Is the RePowerEU project feasible ?
Background. European wind turbine manufacturers are in financial difficulties. Even as the "RePowerEU" plan aims to increase the share of renewable energy from 32% of total production to 45% by 2030, they are cutting jobs and closing factories.
Siemens Gamesa suffered a nine-month loss of €1.2 billion in June this year, 233% more than the loss in the same period last year.
The company recently announced that it was cutting 2,900 jobs, or 10% of its global workforce.
Source : Financial Times