Big oil, governments and one of Europe’s largest polluters are among the developers of planned projects off our coast
I would be more concerned about the technology that often comes from non-European, autocratic countries. Europe risks to replace its dependence from Russian fossil fuel with dependence from Chinese renewable energy tech.
Two of the largest offshore wind turbine manufacturers are EU companies, namely Siemens Gamesa and Vestas.
How is this bad?
I doubt, that the statement is meant to be a flaw, but rather an invalidation of the mandatory dependency on China.
Europe’s -or any European country’s- dependence on Chinese renewable energy technology is evident. Literally all experts agree on that, even if there ate first steps to reduce this dependency.
They also agree on the threat this poses to the EU and democracy. Of course, tbere should be rules and norms for profit-oriented firms operating in Europe. These rules are never perfect and may need to be adjusted in Ireland and elsewhere.
The enemy does not come from within, though.
Europe should avoid relying on China for renewable technology, says EU minister – (October 2024)
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.
Absolutely, there is no need to argue about that. I just think, that they wanted to point out that, if you wanted you could buy European wind turbines and for independence, you absolutely should
Why is that bad?
Because energy security is a real thing. Ireland would become dependent on the whims of foreign investors and/or purely profit motives. This may not be in their long term interest, both for stability and energy availability, and for green energy commitments.
I would also like to add that many of the big polluters use their involvement to renewable projects as a marketing/advertisement strategy, in order to portray themselves as if they were part of the solution (energy transition), when in reality they are doing business as usual.
I’m also not sure. There is something that sounds wrong here. To me, it doesn’t matter where those companies are coming from. The Irish people won’t profit at all if the owner of some company is Irish. The rich businessmen know how to avoid paying taxes. It would matter if the irish people itself were owning the wind turbines, but that is not being discussed here.