Chinese wind foundation giant gains further foothold in European supply chain

Proponents say east-west alliances can help bridge gap between Europe’s offshore wind expansion goals and ability to meet them

Dajin is supplying monopiles to RWE's Thor offshore wind farm in Danish waters.
Dajin is supplying monopiles to RWE's Thor offshore wind farm in Danish waters.Photo: Dajin Heavy Industry

Chinese yard group and monopile supplier Dajin Heavy Industry gained a further foothold in the European supply chain as it signed a reservation agreement with a Danish port allowing it to store offshore wind components.

Dajin and Port of Odense announced yesterday that they had signed a reservation agreement that sees the Chinese group secure access to 100,000 square metres of the port area.

Dajin will in the coming years deliver a significant number of monopiles for offshore wind turbines to projects across Europe, said Port of Odense, including Denmark, Germany, Scotland and France.

It continued that one of Dajin’s largest European customers, German energy company RWE, will receive over 140 monopiles, including 36 to be delivered to Thor, Denmark’s largest offshore wind farm, with a capacity of 1GW.

Jaroslaw Lasinski, managing director of Dajin Europe, said that Odense Port is “strategically located” between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea and stands out as one of the few European ports fully ready as an installation and marshalling port for projects in both.

Dajin said that the deal is “crucial” in driving the green transition forward in Europe, which it noted has a target of installing 450GW of offshore wind capacity by 2050.

In September, Dajin signed a memorandum of understanding with BlueFloat Energy in what the pair hope to be the first step toward forging a strategic supply chain partnership that can help underpin the Madrid-based company's lofty plans for offshore wind.

Writing on LinkedIn, BlueFloat CEO Carlos Martin Rivals congratulated Dajin on its Odense Port deal, saying this is “an important step forward to set up a competitive global supply chain.”

The deal comes amid concerns in the European wind industry about the increasing influence of Chinese players, most notably its wind turbine suppliers, with offshore wind specialist Mingyang securing a series of breakthrough deals on the continent recently.
Chinese monopiles, including those from Dajin, were however recently described as an attractive option for European developers to save costs on projects. These east-west alliances are emerging as a response to the growing gap between Europe's expansion plans for offshore wind and its ability to meet that demand from its own supply chain, said analysts.
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Published 10 December 2024, 12:13Updated 10 December 2024, 12:13
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