China Removes Western Wind Power Equipment to Boost Security

Chinese wind power companies are replacing European components with domestic equipment for reasons including security and control, according to a major European think tank.

The Polish state-backed OSW Centre for Eastern Studies reviewed 1,686 public procurement documents issued by Chinese utilities or their subsidiaries since 2022, and found that about 250 called for foreign technology in existing wind farms to be replaced with Chinese equipment. The report was shared exclusively with Bloomberg News.

The findings signal China is attempting to protect its critical infrastructure from outside influence at a time when it’s also working to ramp up its own exports of wind power technologies and other grid components.

The implications for Europe are significant. Unlike in many other clean technologies, European companies remain major manufacturers and exporters of wind turbines. But Chinese rivals are increasingly seeking a foothold in the European market, raising questions about how far the region should open the industry to greater competition. As policymakers weigh cheaper technology against the risks of greater reliance on Chinese suppliers, China’s own treatment of foreign technology offers a potentially telling comparison.

“It’s high time to think about approaching those risks coming from China,” said Jakub Jakobowski, deputy director at OSW and the head of the China department. “It’s not only about certain inherent vulnerabilities of the technology, but also about political factors and what many of the Chinese developers clearly point at: the need to control, especially the digital layer of the power generation.”

The findings come ahead of a European Union summit on Thursday, when leaders will discuss how to handle a mounting trade deficit with Beijing. The EU and China agreed recently to slash exports of Chinese hybrid vehicles to the bloc after imports soared in recent years and European carmakers have struggled.

Wind is distinct from other renewable power technologies in China because foreign companies such as Denmark’s Vestas Wind Systems A/S and a division of what’s now Siemens Energy AG sold machines to China for a long time before local players including Goldwind Science & Technology Co. and Mingyang Smart Energy Group Ltd. came to dominate the market.

That differs from solar, where Chinese companies have long held a stronger position.

The wind industry is under the scope of binding targets for Chinese entities to replace foreign technologies with “secure and trustworthy” domestic alternatives, according to the OSW report. The directive covers 13 strategic industries, including telecommunications, aviation and energy.

Much of the equipment targeted to be removed and replaced is focused not on the blades and rotors of wind turbines, but on programmable electrical equipment like converters and special chips within the turbines as well as data management and operating systems, the report found. The affected wind farms total around 42.4 gigawatts of power production capacity, more than the total capacity of the UK but less than 6% of China’s world-leading fleet.

The focus on technological components suggests China may see risks to energy flows in an increasingly electrified world coming more from digital choke points than from physical ones.

Concerns about foreign technology in Chinese wind farms largely relate to older installations, as Chinese equipment makers have for years had sufficient capacity to supply the domestic market. Those local manufacturers have helped make China by far the world’s largest producer of wind power, with its fleet set to reach close to 750 gigawatts this year, according to BloombergNEF.

The procurement documents target well-known European turbine companies such as Vestas and Siemens Gamesa as well as other suppliers including ABB Ltd, Bachmann Electronic GmbH and Beckhoff Automation GmbH & Co. KG.

China’s National Development and Reform Commission and National Energy Administration didn’t respond to faxed requests for comment. Vestas, Beckhoff and ABB declined to comment.