Europe should avoid relying on Chinese technologies in building wind and solar power infrastructure across the Continent to prevent a repeat of its dependence on Russia for oil and gas, an EU energy minister has said.
Speaking in Brussels, Belgian energy minister Tinne Van der Straeten said the European Union had learned the dangers of relying on one country for energy “the hard way” after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. “We cannot make this mistake twice. If all our [renewable] technologies are in the hands of China, delivered by China, it will have a big security impact,” she said.
This did not mean that the parts of every solar panel or wind turbine had to be made in Europe, she said. However, the EU should be careful not to fully outsource the production of the technology behind renewable energy to China. “Otherwise it is a threat to energy security, economic security, if China has control over the technology in the wind turbine that is communicating with the grids. To take out that electricity, to take out that energy with just the push of a button, that is something that we cannot afford.”
Ms Van der Straeten, a Green Party minister in the caretaker Belgian coalition government, was speaking at the book launch of the second edition of Supergrid – Super Solution. Co-authored by The Irish Times environment and science editor Kevin O’Sullivan and the late Eddie O’Connor, the book examines the idea for a Europe-wide grid for renewable energy.
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Mr O’Connor, a renewable energy developer and former chief executive of Bord na Móna, had long been a champion of the supergrid concept, Mr O’Sullivan told those attending the launch. Countries like France, Spain, and Denmark seemed to be “racing on ahead” when it came to renewable energy, while others were lagging behind, which risked creating a “two tier” system in Europe, he said.
Fianna Fáil MEP Barry Andrews told a panel talk at the event that there had been a “real sense of ambition and excitement” in the European Parliament about climate reforms five years ago. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen’s ambitious green deal climate reforms had since become “a lot more contested”, he said. A shift to the right had left many MEPs “significantly less optimistic” and focused instead on preventing further rollback of the green deal.
Ms Van der Straeten said Europe was living through “one of the most turbulent periods in energy history”, with the world coming to a crossroads. Current national energy grids were straining under the pressure. “The European supergrid is our best hope to achieve a zero carbon energy independent Europe.”
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