Berlin warns of risks of Chinese wind farm project in North Sea

The German military's Institute for Defense and Strategy (GIDS) estimates that the 16 wind turbines planned near Borkum pose risks ranging from political influence, spying via sensors, access to critical infrastructure security protocols and disruption of energy supplies, according to an assessment published in the German press.

"We take this issue very seriously," Economy Ministry spokeswoman Luisa-Maria Spoo told a news conference.

GIDS experts ultimately recommend "preventing" the use of Chinese wind turbines for this North Sea project, according to their study, while a decision has not yet been taken to authorize the delivery of Chinese turbines.

The discussion on this project shows "that this is not a simple economic project", because it involves "critical infrastructures" which could generate "new threat scenarios which must always be taken into account", added Steffen Hebestreit, government spokesperson, during this press briefing.

"It must be possible to check and, in case of doubt, ban critical components, whether in energy production facilities such as wind farms or in electricity grids, in order to reduce security risks and avoid dependencies," the Interior Ministry was quoted as saying by the Handelsblatt daily.

The Chinese government consistently dismisses these concerns.

According to China's foreign ministry, there is "no evidence" that Chinese companies endanger the national security of European countries, the business daily Handelsblatt reported over the weekend.

Chinese manufacturers such as Mingyang are entering the wind turbine market by offering competitive prices and delivery times, putting increasing pressure on European manufacturers.

Germany banned technologies and components from Chinese groups Huawei and ZTE in its 5G networks last July for "security" reasons, following warnings about the risk of espionage and sabotage.