Ming Yang Firewalls Europe, US Turbine Orders Surge

Happy Monday everyone.

A Chinese turbine maker is building a wall. Not around a factory. But around its own European business. And that wall … is trying to blockade Beijing.

The company is Ming Yang. It has set up separate companies in Europe. Separate boards. Separate computer systems. The goal is simple. Keep Beijing out.

Here is why. Chinese law can require Chinese companies to help the state with intelligence work. European buyers worry about that. So does Britain. In March … the British government said no to Ming Yang turbines in its offshore wind farms. The reason … national security. That killed a planned factory in Scotland. One-and-a-half billion pounds. Up to fifteen hundred jobs.

Now Ming Yang is trying a different door. It is teaming up with Octopus Energy to look at onshore turbines for Britain. Ming Yang builds the machine. Octopus supplies the software and the controls. Neither company will say when … or who will own what.

A Ming Yang executive says China has no access to its European business. Or to wind farm data. But he admits that separate companies are not the full answer. An energy researcher at Oxford puts it plainly. A Chinese company is very unlikely to switch off a wind farm. But the threat is always there. And the Financial Times notes … TikTok tried the same idea.

So why go to all this trouble? Price. Analysts say Chinese turbines cost thirty to forty percent less than Western ones. That price gap is now a problem for the people who write Europe’s rules.

Europe’s energy commissioner was asked if Chinese turbines should be kept out. His answer? Ask me in a few months. He says Europe wants to trade with the world. It also wants to protect its own turbine makers. He says Europe already watched China take over the solar industry. And he draws one firm line. Nobody in another country should be able to control Europe’s power plants from afar. But he admits something else. Some parts may only come from overseas. And some may be so cheap … that buying European would sink the project.

In Denmark … that is not a theory. Vattenfall won two Danish offshore tenders in August. It will not rule out Chinese turbines. Its chief executive says it has no Chinese contracts today. Denmark’s metalworkers union is not happy. It says developers praise European wind … then go shopping in China. The commissioner’s direction for now? New buying rules that make it easier to require European parts.

While Europe weighs its options … America has been racing a deadline. Federal wind tax credits end with the decade. To keep them … developers had to start construction by July fourth. So they rushed to order turbines. Wood Mackenzie says turbine orders hit two-point-eight gigawatts in the second quarter. The most since late twenty twenty-three.

Wood Mackenzie expects thirty-nine gigawatts of new onshore wind by twenty thirty. More than half of the projects through twenty twenty-eight are already running or under construction. Texas stays the biggest single state. But the West is where the growth is. Colorado. New Mexico. Wyoming. Repowering is cooling off. Wood Mackenzie cut that forecast by one gigawatt. Owners ordered less repower equipment than expected.

And there is one more item that engineers should circle. Tornadoes. The American Society of Civil Engineers is updating its national design standard. It is due out at the end of next year. It is expected to add tornado design rules for wind turbines. Not everywhere. Only where tornado winds pass certain limits … and the turbines pass certain exposure limits. But Wood Mackenzie says that covers most of the country. And it will raise costs.

Finally … Norway is paying to learn. The government agency Enova is putting nearly four billion Norwegian kroner into floating wind. There are two winners. Fortius Offshore Wind. And Fram Wind Solutions. Each gets about two billion kroner. Together … they will put four big floating turbines at a test site off Norway’s west coast. Eighteen-and-a-half megawatts each.

Here is the interesting part. Enova picked the winners with one number. How much energy each krone buys. Enova’s chief says the goal is to make floating wind profitable. If that works … big floating wind farms can follow.

So what should wind professionals take from this? First … the fight over Chinese turbines is becoming a fight over control systems. Look at the Octopus deal. Chinese hardware. British software. Expect more deals built that way.

Second … the American order rush means a construction crunch is coming. Turbines ordered before July must be built before the credits run out. Crews, cranes and blades will be in short supply for the next few years. Lock in your people and equipment early. And if repowering slows … older turbines stay in service longer. That means more inspections … and more repairs.

Third … watch the tornado rules. A wind farm designed today may not start construction until the new rules are out. Ask your turbine supplier how its towers and foundations hold up. Before the building inspector asks you.

And that is the state of the wind industry for the 2nd of November 2026. Join us for the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast tomorrow.