UK in spotlight over 6GW Ming Yang contract

• Luxcara has opted against using Ming Yang at 1.8GW German pair
• But Octopus Energy last month signed a 6GW tie-up with the supplier
• The deal puts UK policy in the spotlight for politicians and the public

When one door closed for Ming Yang Smart Energy in Europe, another opened – but what impact will it see from fierce scrutiny of the firm’s new UK deal?

Here’s the recap. In August, Chinese turbine maker Ming Yang announced it would no longer supply wind turbines for German investment manager Luxcara’s 300MW Waterkant offshore wind farm in the North Sea.

The order caused uproar in the sector when it was revealed in July 2024, due to fears that Europe would be flooded by wind turbines from China and that the continent’s turbine makers would suffer as a result.

This is not a universally held view. Speakers at Tamarindo’s Financing Energy Transition 2024 conference argued that Chinese turbine makers would play a vital role in delivering the global energy transition, for example. Nevertheless, their involvement remains controversial.

The Waterkant contract could have paved the way for Ming Yang to win more deals in the European offshore wind sector, including the possibility of supplying machines for Luxcara’s 1.5GW Waterekke scheme. Luxcara won the rights to develop Waterekke in the North Sea in August 2024 following a tender run by the German government.

However, fast forward one year and that deal is no longer happening.

Two months ago, on 25th August, Luxcara announced that it has instead ordered 97 of Siemens Gamesa’s 15.5MW turbines for Waterekke and would use the same model at Waterkant. Luxcara and Ming Yang said the Chinese firm’s exit was “by mutual agreement”, and many in the industry in Europe were relieved. As well as fears of a potential influx of cheaper turbines, critics have warned about cybersecurity and the risks of China controlling key infrastructure.

German trade association Bundesverband WindEnergie said it was good that Luxcara opted for Siemens Gamesa because “implementing such a large project with Chinese wind turbines would have set a dangerous precedent” in Germany. It said the subsidies enjoyed by firms in China meant that European rivals faced unfair competition.

“Furthermore, important issues regarding information security and unauthorised access to the turbine control system have still not been resolved,” BWE said.

But Luxcara’s decision did not stop Ming Yang in Europe for long.

6GW UK partnership

On 11^th September, British utility Octopus Energy announced a partnership to use Ming Yang turbines on up to 6GW of onshore wind projects in the UK.

Octopus said it would use the firm’s turbines for projects sourced through its digital platform Winder – aka ‘Tinder for wind’ – that was launched in 2022 to pair communities that want wind turbines with landowners that have appropriate sites. Those 6GW of projects could power nearly 5million homes.

Octopus said it would address cybersecurity concerns by exploring “the implementation of software to create the highest levels of data protection and cybersecurity”. Given that this was always going to be a talking point about this transaction, it’s a surprise it hasn’t happened already. Octopus also said the pair may branch into solar and storage too.

The tie-up is likely to draw industry attention to UK industrial policy and may provide a further obstacle for the rollout of the Labour government’s pro-wind policies.

We see the deal as significant in four main ways.

First, it gives Ming Yang a new way into Europe’s onshore and offshore wind markets and means it is not reliant on large one-off projects. The focus on smaller sites in Winder is likely to help Ming Yang gain a foothold in the UK and European turbine markets, but the absence of individual large projects may mean it struggles to build scale quickly.

Second, it will test the UK Government. The ruling Labour Party has committed to grow onshore wind with the Clean Power Action Plan announced in July 2025, which makes commitments to ease planning constraints for developers and resolve defence issues. We expect that the presence of a Chinese turbine maker will increase local complaints about projects because critics can cite cybersecurity and physical security among concerns when lodging planning objections.

This comes at the same time as the anti-renewable energy Reform UK party is gaining influence, even though that is not reflected in its number of seats in Parliament. Ming Yang’s presence may embolden those who are calling for new taxes on renewables and the end of net zero policies if Reform wins power or influence in the next election, due by August 2029. This may call into question the Octopus-Ming Yang tie-up.

Third, Octopus and Ming Yang may struggle as, even if the bulk of the 6GW is built, we haven’t seen fast progress on the rollout of onshore wind in the UK in recent years. The country has a target to expand onshore wind from 15.7GW at the end of 2025 to between 27GW and 29GW in 2030, but just 739MW of projects were completed in the UK last year and that included one big one: the 443MW Viking onshore wind farm led by SSE Renewables.

And fourth, the deal could conceivably harm UK-US relations. The Trump administration warned in June 2025 that the UK risked its national security by supporting Ming Yang to build an offshore turbine factory in Scotland. The US said these turbines could contain surveillance equipment and undermine safety of North Sea sites, including military sites.

President Trump also made predictably forthright criticisms of wind energy in a speech to the United Nations last week, where he blasted European policies on immigration and renewable energy: “You need strong borders and traditional energy sources if you’re going to be great again. I worry about Europe, I love the people of Europe. I hate to see it being devastated by energy and immigration,” he warned.

In 2024, around two thirds (68%) of solar panels imported to the UK came from China, which was up from 61% in 2023, and the Octopus-Ming Yang deal may open the way for wind to go down a similar route. That depends on public opinion, political meddling and the reaction of the industry. It is unlikely to be a smooth or cosy path.