Brussels aims to remove Chinese energy giants from the EU market

Beijing said Wednesday it was "highly concerned" over a European Union probe into Chinese wind turbine suppliers.

The probe is just the latest move by Brussels targeting the country over green tech subsidies suspected of undermining fair competition.

The European Commission will look into conditions for the development of wind parks in France, Spain, Greece, Romania, and Bulgaria.

EU anti-trust commissioner Margrethe Vestager said on Tuesday that the Commission is putting into effect a law that was designed to decrease imports of products by companies that are subsidised by their home countries.

Vestager did not name the Chinese companies which will be investigated by the European Union's executive during a lecture delivered on Tuesday at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States.

An investigation carried out under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR,) which was introduced on 12 July 2023, allows Brussels to probe companies bidding in public tenders in the bloc larger than €250 million.

French energy companies

“We fully understand the Commission’s rationale,” says Giles Dickson, the CEO of WindEurope, a lobby group for the industry.

“Chinese wind turbine manufacturers are offering much lower prices than European manufacturers and incredibly generous financing terms with up to three years deferred payment," he says.

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