BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany’s Luxcara said on Monday it may switch to Siemens Gamesa turbines for its 300-megawatt Waterkant wind farm, potentially scrapping a deal with a Chinese company that had drawn political scrutiny and criticism from European turbine manufacturers.
Hamburg-based asset manager Luxcara said it had reserved capacity for 19 Siemens Gamesa turbines, a subsidiary of Germany’s Siemens Energy, using the same type already secured for its neighbouring 1.5-gigawatt Waterekke project – its largest offshore wind project to date in the German North Sea.
They would replace the turbines that China’s Ming Yang Smart Energy was due to produce for the project under a deal announced last year.
Luxcara said it was considering the change to ensure economic efficiency by bundling procurement processes and contracts, conducting joint installation campaigns and coordinating operations for both projects.
“This would allow us to align the development, construction, and operation of both projects even more closely,” Holger Matthiesen, managing director of both project companies, said in a statement.
Waterkant, to be built in Germany’s North Sea, is scheduled to connect to the grid by the end of 2028 and is expected to generate enough power for about 400,000 households.
Dispatching Chinese-made turbines for the project drew close scrutiny by Germany’s former economy minister and criticism from Europe’s wind turbine industry, which said the deal would give China access to critical infrastructure.
The Ming Yang deal came after the European Commission last year launched a review of possible market distortions by Chinese wind turbine makers in five European Union countries, a move that China called “discriminatory”.
Luxcara said it had informed the relevant authorities and project partners about the possible switch in turbine supplier. It did not say whether the political and regulatory scrutiny played a role in that decision.
Siemens Gamesa, Ming Yang Smart Energy and Germany’s Economy Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa;Editing by Helen Popper)
