The announcement is causing a stir in the wind power industry: a new offshore wind farm in the North Sea will consist of 16 turbines from a Chinese manufacturer. But is competition with China fair?
Borkum holidaymakers and islanders have long since become accustomed to discovering numerous offshore wind turbines on the horizon when looking out to sea. But the prospect that 16 Chinese-made wind turbines could soon join them is throwing the European offshore industry into disarray. Some see the project as nothing less than the beginning of the end for the European offshore industry. If one is not careful, it could face a similar fate to that of the solar industry.
Since the Hamburg asset manager Luxcara won the contract for an offshore site around 90 kilometers off Borkum and announced that it wanted to build the “Waterkant” wind farm there with Chinese turbines, Holger Matthiesen, Project Director at Luxcara, has faced a lot of criticism: Um In order to achieve the highest possible return for investors, Luxcara wanted to build the wind farm as cost-effectively as possible. That’s why they rely on highly subsidized turbines from China and ignore sustainability and safety risks.
“The decision was not price-driven”
Matthiesen contradicts the critics from industry, associations, unions and politics: “We didn’t decide based on price, but rather we chose the most powerful turbine on the market at the moment. And Ming Yang was the only company that had the delivery time for one could ensure installation in 2028.” Ming Yang has already successfully tested a prototype of the turbine, and it has even survived a typhoon.
Luxcara apparently also wants to withstand the headwind that is currently facing the project and counteract the impression that the project is being approached negligently: “The basis for our decision was the detailed examination of the technological, economic, contractual and ecological aspects of all the offers we made received,” says Matthiesen. Luxcara claims to have met the so-called “qualitative criteria” set out in the Federal Network Agency’s tendering process for offshore areas. This includes, for example, installing the foundations of the wind turbines in an environmentally friendly manner.
Two-thirds price crucial
However, the price offered counts for two thirds in the tendering process. This means that it may be decisive in determining which bidder wins the contract. This is why German offshore companies see themselves at a disadvantage compared to highly subsidized Chinese manufacturers. This includes Siemens Energy, which produces wind turbines with its subsidiary Siemens Gamesa in Cuxhaven.
Probably also because Siemens Energy itself supplies components to China, spokesman Tim Proll-Gerwe promotes a differentiated view: “It’s not that we want to keep anyone out. What we demand are fair competitive conditions for everyone. If we wind “If we look at it as a strategic industry, with the appropriate security structure, with local value creation, then we have to ensure that price is not the only criterion in the tender.”
Critical infrastructure in Chinese hands?
From the point of view of Bärbel Heidebroek, President of the Federal Wind Energy Association (BWE), safety should be the decisive factor. It must be demanded that no technology be installed in the offshore wind farms that would endanger the critical infrastructure. Heidebroek is very critical of the prospect of wind farms in the North Sea being controlled from China in the future: “If China, for example, threatens to attack Taiwan, it could threaten to paralyze our entire energy supply by simply sealing off the Chinese plants and taking them off the grid. “
Holger Matthiesen from investor Luxcara does not share these concerns about cybersecurity: “I think that through the control, management and service of the turbines, which we will ensure entirely in Germany, there is no way to make such scenarios even feasible. There will also be no direct data connection to the manufacturer.”
Matthiesen counters the industry’s criticism that there is currently no fair competition with China: “Together with the manufacturer, we will also ensure added value in Germany. For example, service, installation, use of ports and so on are carried out here in Europe take place.”
Criticism from employee representatives
For the IG Metall union, this is too vague and too little. Daniel Friedrich, district manager of IG Metall Coast, does not see responsibility solely with the investors who are planning wind farm projects. Rather, Friedrich sees Robert Habeck and his Federal Ministry of Economics as having a duty to change the tender criteria so that the added value on the coast is maintained: “Whoever bids on a wind farm, whoever wins it in the end, must also commit to providing jobs and locations “To create a place.”
From the trade unionist’s point of view, training and collective agreements should play just as important a role as a good price when tendering for offshore areas. Only then will the energy transition be accepted by people in Europe. Before construction of the “Waterkant” wind farm with turbines from Ming Yang can begin, Luxcara must obtain further approvals from the EU.