WindEurope has said it is “very surprised” at BASF chief executive Martin Brudermüller’s comments on the quality of European wind turbines.
Brudermüller (pictured) reportedly said Chinese turbines are cheaper and better machines than their European counterparts.
BASF and Mingyang Smart Energy are to partner on building and operating an offshore wind farm in Zhanjiang, Guangdong, China.
However, WindEurope responded to the comments saying wind farm developers in Europe are happy with the European turbines they have installed and would like to be able to continue sourcing European turbines.
The representative body pointed out that Europe is the second biggest manufacturing location for wind turbines, home to a large industrial ecosystem of wind turbine manufacturers and suppliers – with 250 factories across Europe.
In addition, almost all wind turbines installed in Europe today have been assembled in Europe, which WindEurope said is a testament to both the product quality and competitiveness of European wind turbine manufacturing.Furthermore, The European Commission just recently doubled down on this commitment with a Wind Energy Package, which acknowledges the urgent need for investments in Europe’s wind energy supply chain to scale up the domestic production capacity for new wind turbines.
And it proposes pre-qualification criteria for wind energy auctions to ensure cybersecurity, environmental protection, and the ability to deliver on project commitments.
WindEurope said that EU Member States must now rapidly implement the excellent actions proposed in the Wind Power Package and actively engage in the drafting of the announced Wind Energy Charter.