FRANKFURT : German utility EnBW is considering whether to use Chinese wind turbines for future projects, its chief financial officer said on Friday, saying the number of Western suppliers was fairly small and pointing to potential economic benefits.
“It is indeed the case that we naturally only have a limited number of suppliers for wind turbines. This applies to onshore as well as offshore,” Thomas Kusterer told reporters after presenting first-half results.
He said that EnBW was currently relying on European and U.S. manufacturers in its wind energy projects.
“In the future, it would be a theoretical possibility to deal with Chinese manufacturers here. Yes, of course we have to do that, because it also has an economic component … However, this is not an issue for us at the moment.”
Europe’s wind turbine industry is concerned that Chinese rivals, including Goldwind, Mingyang Smart Energy and Windey could price local players out of the market.
