Orsted CEO on Chinese wind turbines: 'We reject nothing'
Comment by Mads Nipper follows Mingyang’s plan to build offshore wind turbine factory in Italy even as EU Commission probes subsidies
Orsted does not “reject” the idea of deploying Chinese wind turbines, but as well as technology, quality, price and commercial factors would carefully consider what regulatory risks it may face by doing so, the chief executive of the global offshore wind champion said.
Orsted’s Nipper said his company constantly is evaluating what the right technology choices are.
“We keep an open mind to that,” the CEO said, adding: “We reject absolutely nothing in this supply chain. We evaluate on an ongoing basis what is technologically, commercially, and regulatorily, the right solution,” he said, but added that regarding regulatory issues the company is taking into consideration the “risks of suddenly something happening that could make this more troublesome”.
The Danish company previously had said it was unlikely that Chinese turbines would become an integrated part of Western infrastructure.
“But that doesn’t change our perspective that we have been, and are following all technologies across the world,” Nipper said, “to ensure that we are evaluating on an ongoing basis.”
The CEO, however, added that Orsted has “no Chinese turbines in our current pipeline.
“We are not politicians. We are developers, and therefore, we do follow the technological development, but take all potential risks into consideration,” he concluded.
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