Germany draws up action plan to guarantee 'level playing field' for European wind OEMs

German climate and energy minister Robert Habeck after a meeting with European wind turbine and component manufacturers has outlined an action plan to guarantee a ‘level playing field’ for the domestic industry and keep value creation in Europe.

Cyber security, fair competition conditions, reducing dependencies and financing in the wind industry were at the centre of the meeting late Wednesday.

“We have a strong wind industry in Germany and Europe. It is ready for the implementation of the Energiewende [energy transition] and thus contributes to our strategic, energy policy and technological sovereignty,” Habeck said.

“We must continue to improve the framework conditions so that this industry remains competitive and the conditions for future value creation in Germany and Europe are in place.

“The agreed measures are a decisive step in this regard."

The announced measures are set to come as Germany's onshore wind turbine market is slowly recovering from a years-long lull in installations, flanked by undersubscribed auctions, that in great part were a result of torturously slow permitting and excessive bureaucracy.

Representatives of the German and European wind industry at the meeting with Habeck reassured the German energy minister that they are willing and able to meet the domestic demand for wind turbines in the mid and long-term at reliable volumes, the ministry said.

VDMA Power Systems, a group representing German wind OEMs, pledged that manufacturers and suppliers of wind turbines in Europe "can and will continue to deliver in order to achieve the expansion targets."

"They can adapt their capacities to increasing demand. A reliable market is a prerequisite for investments in sustainable industrial growth," VDMA managing director Dennis Rendschmidt said.

He added that to ensure energy supply as a fundamental component of national security, it must be guaranteed that every single system in the power grid is completely reliable.

"The regulatory system must be strict here. Relying on certification of individual components is not enough to minimize risks," Rendschmidt said.

“For the wind industry in Germany and Europe, it is particularly crucial that a competitive level playing field is maintained and that unfair market interventions can be balanced out. An EU industrial policy strategy must also take into account location conditions and reliable demand.”

'Well done to the German government'

WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson said there is no place in Europe for unfairly subsidised prices or financing terms.

“Well done to the German government for acting to ensure a level playing field between Europe’s wind energy supply chain and manufacturers from outside of Europe,” he said.

“Well done to Germany too for acting on the crucial issue of data security.

“There are hundreds of sensors on a modern turbine. Whoever puts them on the components has priceless information and the power to control the functioning of those components and the turbine.”

Germany’s powerful metal workers union welcomed part of the action plan, but said the measures didn’t go far enough.

“The federal government urgently needs instruments to safeguard the security of wind turbines and refuse the use of critical components,” said Daniel Friedrich, district head of the coastal section of IG Metall.

“The access to machines from abroad must be impeded. Best if the machines are built in Europe.”

The union also said the action plan doesn’t reveal how the government intends to provide more jobs and value creation in the wind industry.

“The key for that is a new set-up of tenders with a fixed share of European (if possible German) value creation and the protection of collectively agreed employment,” said Heiko Messerschmidt, IG Metall’s representative for the wind industry.

A follow-up meeting is slated to take place at the beginning of next year to report on the implementation of the action plan.