cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/10390701
Europe’s wind turbine makers are examining whether combining to create industry champions would help them confront Chinese competition in the race to supply the global wind power industry.
China’s and Europe’s wind turbine makers have each long held sway in their domestic markets but China’s manufacturers are developing an edge in fast-growing regions such as Latin America and the Middle East, as well as looking to gain ground in Europe.
This march into wider territories has fuelled European angst over its strength in strategic industries and prompted the suggestions from some executives for the need to consolidate to create greater scale. “I have great faith in European industrial capacity,” says José Manuel Entrecanales, chief executive of Acciona, the largest shareholder in Nordex, which sold the most turbines by capacity in Europe last year.
“We’ve got a number of opportunities — one of which is wind. [But] scale is the essence. [. . .] We believe that to gain the scale difference, consolidation is the only means.”
...
In April, the European Commission published long-awaited new guidelines for mergers and acquisitions, putting more focus on the benefits of corporate scale and urging competition officials to give greater weight to innovation, investment and resilience of the internal market.
After several previous mergers, Europe’s wind turbine industry is already relatively concentrated — between Nordex, Vestas, Siemens Gamesa and Enercon — leading to questions over what further tie-ups would be allowed.
“First of all, we need to clarify what it is we want from a political point of view,” said Entrecanales. It was “not worth” talking to rivals until then, he added. “Once we do that, then we can see what possible concepts are doable.”
...
The new merger guidelines were one of the initiatives stemming from the landmark 2024 Mario Draghi report, aiming to boost European competitiveness and prevent the bloc countries from lagging in both the digital and energy transition.
...