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Trump skips turbine tariffs, the Pentagon clears two wind farms, the DOJ targets Revolution Wind, and China pushes into Europe.
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Episode transcript
Happy Monday, everyone.
Washington spent the week talking about national security. Of wind turbines.
First… imports. This past Thursday… President Trump signed an order on foreign wind turbines. The Commerce Department says imported turbines and parts threaten national security. It gives two reasons. America depends on them. And they could be controlled from overseas… to shut down the power grid. The order names one part. The inverter. It says most inverters are made outside the country. But there are no new tariffs… for now. The Commerce Secretary and the Trade Representative will negotiate with trading partners instead. They have one hundred eighty days to report back. That puts the deadline in late April.
Next… the Pentagon. About three hundred wind projects are stuck in Pentagon security reviews. On Thursday… two got through. One in Maine. One in South Dakota. The White House says more approvals are coming in the weeks ahead.
Why now? Bloomberg reports the White House offered to free about thirty stalled projects. The price? Democratic votes for a Senate bill to speed up permits. But the approvals may come with strings. Some developers say the Pentagon could pull its approval later. And a permit that can be pulled is hard to finance. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse helped write the Senate bill. He calls Thursday’s move a start. He wants a lot more.
That same week… the Justice Department went the other way. It asked federal judges to send back the permits for three offshore wind farms. Revolution Wind… off Rhode Island. It has made power since March. New England Wind… off Massachusetts. And Maryland Offshore Wind. Government lawyers say the Biden-era approvals found harm to endangered species… and approved the projects anyway.
That hit the Senate deal hard. Democrats signed on because the White House promised better treatment for wind. One part of the bill bars federal agencies from playing favorites between energy sources. Senator Whitehouse had a short answer. “This is how you blow up a permitting deal.” The Senate takes up the bill after the November elections.
Finally… a view from Europe. The head of BMS Heavy Cranes says Chinese turbine makers are pushing into Europe. They are coming in through the east. Hungary. Romania. All the way up Europe’s eastern edge. He says they are winning projects that Vestas does not win. So his cranes now work for Chinese customers. He admits it stings. He even bought a Chinese crane to test it.
Why are the Chinese winning? Not cheap labor, he says. He toured a Chinese factory run entirely by robots. He says they win on technology. His one open question? How long the Chinese machines will last.
So what does this mean for wind professionals?
First… the trade fight may become a cyber fight. The Commerce Department order is about remote control… not price. Know where your controllers, converters and remote access come from. Expect regulators to ask.
Second… watch the April deadline. The trade talks could end with new tariffs. If you sign turbine or parts deals this winter… decide now who pays if that happens.
Third… read the favoritism language in the Senate bill. Does it cover permits already granted? Or only new ones? If only new ones… it will not help the three wind farms in court today.
So Washington spent the week asking if a wind turbine could be turned against America. Europe is asking a different question. How do you compete with a factory run by robots?
And that is the state of the wind industry for the 26th of October 2026. Join us for the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast tomorrow.
