“For me as a Danish minister, and with the role the wind turbine industry has in our country, I’m of course concerned about whether European manufacturers are outperformed by state aid in a way which is unfair,” Denmark’s energy and climate minister Lars Aagaard told Reuters.
Denmark is home to wind turbine giant Vestas, which – along with its European rivals – is facing a growing challenge from Chinese manufacturers. A number of Chinese firms have lined up breakthrough turbine orders in Europe in recent months: Mingyang in Italy[1] and Germany[2], and Goldwind in Italy[3].
European OEMs, industry body WindEurope and German union IG Metall have complained that Beijing is providing massive subsidies that enable Chinese manufacturers to sell their turbines at prices their rivals in Europe cannot compete with. However, some European players are more open[4] to a role for Chinese companies.
The EU is investigating[5] whether state subsidies give Chinese turbine suppliers an unfair advantage over their western rivals.
“It’s important that we get some common European answers, because it is a challenge that will be quite difficult to handle on a national level,” Aagaard told Reuters, referring to increased Chinese competition.
