The Financial Times (via Inside Climate News) reports:

Leaders of the wind power industry are warning that the global trade war could endanger progress on renewable energy, as slowing growth in clean energy projects puts the goals of the Paris climate accord at risk.

“Trade wars do real damages to business by inflating prices,” said Henrik Andersen, chief executive of Denmark-based Vestas, the world’s biggest wind turbine manufacturer. “When tariffs impact new technologies like renewable energy, it makes them less competitive.”

The cost of wind turbines has fallen dramatically over the past decade, making new wind installations cost competitive with fossil fuels in certain areas. But the U.S.-China trade dispute and mounting concerns about protectionist policies worldwide is being felt in the global supply chain for wind turbines.

Giles Dickson, chief executive of WindEurope, an industry body, noted how, in response to U.S. moves to impose tariffs on Chinese steel, the European Commission was considering additional levies on imports of the steel towers that form that base of wind turbines and the glass fiber fabrics used in turbine blades.

“This risks increasing the cost of wind energy in Europe,” Dickson said, speaking on the sidelines of the China Wind Power conference in Beijing. [Continue reading…]