The European Commission has initiated an inquiry into potential market distortions by Chinese wind turbine manufacturers across five member states of the European Union.

The action was met with criticism from China, labeling it as “discriminatory.”

Margrethe Vestager (pictured) the EU competition chief, recently disclosed that the Commission is scrutinising the conditions surrounding wind park development in Spain, Greece, France, Romania, and Bulgaria. However, specific reasons for singling out these nations have not been provided.

According to Green Power Denmark, approximately 2.6 gigawatts (GW) of wind turbines manufactured in China are either already operational or planned for installation in Europe, including the United Kingdom.

This figure contrasts with the total wind generation capacity of 221 GW across the EU last year, as reported by Commission statistics.

In 2023, Europe saw the addition of 18.3 GW of new wind power capacity, with 16.2 GW installed among the EU’s 27 member countries, as per data from WindEurope.

Notably, despite the presence of Chinese wind turbines in the EU market, domestic companies such as Vestas, Enercon, Nordex, and Siemens Gamesa continue to dominate.

Sources within the industry suggest that the surplus capacity in the Chinese market has prompted increased exports, with Chinese turbines being priced lower than their European counterparts.

Moreover, manufacturers often provide appealing deferred payment options. Key players involved in EU projects include Goldwind, Envision, MingYang, Shanghai Electric, Sinovel, and Zhejiang Windley.

These projects extend beyond the countries targeted by the Commission’s inquiry, encompassing Italy, Croatia, Sweden, as well as non-EU member states like North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Ukraine, and Turkey.

According to WindEurope, the majority of these projects focus on onshore wind installations.

Among the countries under scrutiny, several projects are already operational, including six in France, one in Bulgaria, one in Romania, and three in Greece.

Main Image: Photos by DIEFFEMBACQ Copyright: © European Union 2024 – Source : EP

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