Trump Helps China Dominate Wind

The Trump Administration begins a Section 232 investigation to
block foreign-owned wind in the US. Meanwhile, China continues to
pull ahead. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email
update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored
by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather
Guard's StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the
show
on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit
Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes'
YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the
show? Email us! Welcome to Uptime News. Flash Industry News
Lightning fast. Your host, Allen Hall, shares the renewable
industry news you may have missed. Allen Hall 2025: You know
what's happening to offshore wind in America? Ørsted stock down
87%. Revolution wind halted at 80% completion, $679 million in
funding canceled across trial projects. But here's what the
industry press isn't telling you. On August 13th, while everyone
was watching Ørsted Stock collapsed, the Commerce Department
quietly launched something else. A Section 2 32, national Security
Investigation of Wind Turbine Imports Section 2 32. The same Trade
law President Trump used to slap tariffs on steel and aluminum in
his first term. The investigation list, 12 criteria for protecting
America's wind turbine supply. [00:01:00] Domestic
production capacity in port, concentration risks, foreign
government subsidies, supply chain security, reading those
criteria. You think Washington finally gets it? You think they're
building a fortress around American wind manufacturing. But the
opposite is true. Chinese wind turbine manufacturers now hold the
top four global spots. Goldwind Envision Min Yang Windy, they
control 60% of the global market prices 20% lower than Western
competitors. Yet in America, these Chinese turbines have virtually
zero market share zero. The Section 2 32 investigation isn't aimed.
At China, it's aimed at Europe. Siemens ESA dominates US offshore
wind Vestas leads onshore in the quote unquote foreign threat. The
Commerce Department is investigating it's Danish and German
companies building American wind farms. Meanwhile, 7,000 miles
away. China [00:02:00] installed 86 gigawatts of wind in
2024 more than the entire US has built in the last decade combined.
Germany just canceled their Skara project's. Chinese turbine order
after national security warnings. But those same ING Yang turbines,
they're spinning right now off the coast of Italy, the only Chinese
offshore wind farm in all of Europe. Irony runs deeper while Trump
halts European built wind farms citing national security China.
Races they had with their everything everywhere, all at once.
Energy strategy, building new before discarding the old, as
president Xi puts it, China's new energy law prioritizes renewable
development while keeping coal as a backup. America's new policy,
discard the new, go back to the old. European manufacturers are
hemorrhaging money. Siemens GAA posted massive losses. Investors
practicing quote unquote
commercial [00:03:00] discipline. Industry. Speak for, we
can't compete with Chinese prices Today. Orid faces a $9.4 billion
rights issue, half funded by Danish taxpayers . But here's what
makes this story remarkable. The section 2 32 investigation could
actually help Chinese manufacturers. If tariffs hit European
turbines, Chinese companies already 20% cheaper, become the only
viable alternative, except Trump won't let them in the United
States either. So what's the real strategy? Simple. It's kill
offshore wind entirely. Make it so expensive, so uncertain that
investors flee. The national Security investigation isn't about
protecting American wind manufacturing. It's about protecting
American fossil fuels. Transportation, secretary Duffy called Wind
Projects Fantasy while redirecting funds to real infrastructure
translation ports for oil and gas, not [00:04:00] wind
turbines. The Commerce Department's 12 criteria reads like a
textbook on supply chain security, but they're being weaponized to
eliminate supply chains entirely, and China understands this. While
America argues about wind power, China builds it 75% of global
offshore wind installations this year. The section 2 32
investigation will conclude sometime next year. It will recommend
tariffs on European wind equipment to protect American
manufacturing, but there is no offshore wind manufacturing to
protect. That's not an oversight. That's the point.