‘We need to make sure wind’s dependencies are not too big’ – Siemens Gamesa CEO

‘We need to make sure wind’s dependencies are not too big’ - Siemens Gamesa CEO | Windpower Monthly

Wind industry leaders and ministers of European countries identified energy sovereignty, grids and permitting as key areas in need of reforming if Europe is to meet its ambitious wind power targets.

Jochen Eickholt, the CEO of European turbine manufacturer Siemens Gamesa, renewed previous calls to diversify Europe’s wind power supply chain, which continues to rely on China for key materials, including the rare earth metals used in most wind turbines.

“We still have high dependency on supply chains across the world. Energy sovereignty and energy independence is an important aspect of the European mindset,” Eickholt said. “We need to make sure that our dependencies are not becoming too big,” he added.

Çetin Ali Dönmez, Turkey’s deputy minister of industry and technology, said the country had a role to play in building the continent’s energy sovereignty.

He argued Turkey could contribute in both primary industries like mining, plus secondary industries like manufacturing.

“We give special importance to finding new mines in Turkey and we have found rare earths mining potential in western Turkey,” he said, referencing the Eskişehir-Beylikova site announced in 2022.

“We are close to getting investment to get more out of it," Ali Dönmez added. "European countries and the EU should invest in these mining opportunities in Turkey. Long-term financing will be very beneficial for Europe to diversify its [supply chain] sources.”

He added that Turkey hoped to contribute to European countries’ ambition to push renewable energy manufacturing on the continent, despite not being an EU member state.

“The term ‘made in Europe’ is not ‘made in the EU’. We as Turkey want to become a leading power of the term ‘made in Europe’. We are very keen on becoming aligned with the EU’s Green Deal. We are very ambitious in our goals to decrease carbon emissions (and) we should integrate together,” he said.