{"text":[[{"start":9.08,"text":"Europe must act against Chinese wind turbine makers that benefit from “unfair” state support, but cannot afford to close itself off from global supply chains, the boss of Danish wind farm developer Ørsted said."}],[{"start":22.76,"text":"Rasmus Errboe hailed the wind power sector as a “European industrial success story” as he backed efforts by the EU to clamp down on Chinese manufacturers with access to large government subsidies."}],[{"start":34.46,"text":"“Competition needs to happen on fair and equal terms,” he told the FT. “We’ve in recent years seen the European Commission being much more active in addressing unfair trading practices. I see this as a necessary and also natural development.”"}],[{"start":48.48,"text":"EU officials are keen to protect the European wind industry and prevent it from replicating the fate of the continent’s solar industry, which has been decimated by competition from cheaper rivals from China. The OECD found Chinese solar companies received the most subsidies of any manufacturers in the sector by a “significant margin”."}],[{"start":68.64,"text":"The Commission is currently investigating Goldwind, the world’s largest turbine manufacturer, over whether it benefited from unfair subsidies to outcompete European rivals. The chief executive of German turbine maker Nordex, José Luis Blanco, has called for “non-western” companies to be banned from selling turbines to the EU under cyber security rules."}],[{"start":89.4,"text":"The EU is concerned about developing an over-reliance on high-value Chinese technology that would leave it dependent on the trade partner. In the wind sector, this includes key components such as gearboxes and blades, but there are fewer worries about lower-value parts used in these components."}],[{"start":105.76,"text":"Saying his priority was a “thriving” European wind sector, Errboe said: “If you look at the entire value chain for wind, this obviously does not mean closing ourselves off to the outside world. Developers and equipment manufacturers benefit from access to a global supply chain.”"}],[{"start":122.66,"text":"China’s presence in Europe’s wind turbine industry is small, accounting for less than 3 per cent of new turbine capacity last year, according to the Global Wind Energy Council. Chinese turbine manufacturers’ attempts to break into the sector have been restricted, with leading company Ming Yang shut out from the UK’s offshore market on national security grounds."}],[{"start":143.96,"text":"European wind is on track for a record year, with 24GW of capacity set to be installed in 2026. Wind provides about a fifth of Europe’s electricity. Wind Europe, the trade body, says total offshore and onshore wind installations will grow to 436GW by 2030"}],[{"start":163.4,"text":"The record installation marks a turnaround for a sector that was heavily disrupted by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which drove up borrowing costs."}],[{"start":172.76,"text":"But it is still short of the EU aim to install 500GW of wind production as part of an aim for 42.5 per cent of Europe’s energy needs to come from renewables by 2030."}],[{"start":184.72,"text":"The Commission is under pressure from member states including France to replace a later 2040 renewables target with a “clean energy” version that would include nuclear deployment."}],[{"start":193.96,"text":"Errboe, who on Wednesday takes over the rotating chair of Wind Europe, said he was not against a target that included nuclear but called on Europe to set specific goals for wind deployment at an EU and member-state level."}],[{"start":207.08,"text":"“You’re going to need many different technologies,” he said."}],[{"start":210.92,"text":"The European Court of Auditors has recently criticised Europe for failing to invest sufficiently in renewables deployment. Fossil fuel imports are costing about €500mn extra per day compared with before the outbreak of the war in Iran in February, according to Commission president Ursula von der Leyen."}],[{"start":229.96,"text":"Additional reporting by Rachel Millard in London"}],[{"start":238.32,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1789540321_9019.mp3"}