The two-day international exhibition on offshore wind power, Seanergy, came to a close on Wednesday, June 18, at the vast exhibition hall of the Porte de Versailles in Paris. Since its first edition in 2016, Seanergy has grown year by year in scale and has received direct support from French President Macron this time. The exhibition gathered more than 4,000 participants and over 200 exhibitors.

From the very beginning, Seanergy has been a cross-technology event, showcasing products including fixed and floating wind power, tidal energy, wave energy, ocean temperature difference power generation, ocean thermal energy conversion, floating solar power, and more.

On the first day of discussions on June 17, representatives attending the conference discussed many challenges facing the offshore wind power industry, including issues related to equipment supply autonomy, geopolitical problems, and financing. In June last year, the EU introduced the "Net Zero" or "Net Zero Industry" regulation, with the main aim of promoting the development of energy transition industries within the EU.

To achieve this, the EU stipulated that starting this year, limitations would be placed on technology and equipment originating from third countries in all energy transition projects. The EU set a limit that equipment and technology from third countries should not exceed 50%. Given China's leading position in the wind power and solar power generation sectors, this third country undoubtedly refers to China.

RFI interviewed Mr. Pierre Warlop, an expert from the French Natural Resources Company, who has been active in renewable energy consulting for over thirty years, on-site at the exhibition.

Mr. Pierre Warlop first stated that the EU's dependence on Chinese equipment is not a problem that can be solved overnight. He said: "Regarding wind power, firstly, some metal components mainly come from China, and secondly, many components contain rare earths, and global dependence on China regarding rare earths is a common issue, not just in Europe but also in the United States. This is why the EU unanimously reached the net-zero regulation to limit dependence on other countries, which applies not only to wind power but also to solar power."

Additionally, from a technical perspective, Europe's dependence on other countries also exists because the original companies developing these technologies in Europe are now in dire straits. Regarding the equipment and technology sources for France's largest offshore wind farm, the Saint-Nazaire Wind Farm project, we are unclear about the specific origins of each piece of equipment, but overall, the majority of the project's equipment comes from Europe.

However, some steel component suppliers basically import goods from the Asian market due to price or other factors, and the purpose of the EU's regulations on developing domestic products is not to base decisions solely on price but must also consider social and environmental factors."

"I think this issue has long existed in multiple industrial sectors that have introduced Chinese equipment, but we shouldn't let this deter us from using it. Of course, given that these devices are directly connected to the grid, their importance is self-evident in today's era of cyber warfare. Therefore, any network equipment must ensure cybersecurity to guard against possible attacks from third parties. The security investigation of the offshore wind farm in Hamburg, Germany, is a typical example."

In fact, similar security measures should apply to all equipment involving batteries, solar power, or wind power, and safety investigations must be conducted beforehand. This is why security provisions have been added to new tender terms, ensuring security prior to the use of new technical equipment for network information exchange."

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7517716152429363752/

Disclaimer: This article represents the views of the author alone. Please express your opinions by clicking the "Agree/Disagree" buttons below.