Don't let fear of Chinese suppliers topple offshore wind goals, says Dajin floater boss

Nations with serious ambitions for offshore wind should be less wary of using the Chinese supply chain and more focused on the "end goal" of supplying clean, cheap electricity, according to the man leading a push into the floating wind sector by monopiles giant Dajin Heavy Industries.

Carlos Martin, Madrid-based general manager for floating wind for China's Dajin Offshore, is no stranger to floating wind, having founded BlueFloat Energy, a private equity-backed floating wind developer and, before that, working as a project director for EDPR on the pioneering WindFloat Atlantic project in Portugal.

Dajin Offshore, as the new unit is known, says it will provide one-stop floating offshore wind foundation solutions spanning manufacturing, transportation, assembly and final delivery and aims to support developers and EPC contractors in reducing costs and accelerating large-scale commercialisation.

The company will target non-Chinese floating markets, especially in Europe, but including some others, such as Japan and South Korea.

“These are not necessarily easy markets to tackle, but they are definitely on the radar for us,” said Martin, who acknowledges that he expects to encounter some resistance to Chinese suppliers along the way.

From his new standpoint in the supply chain, Martin argues that excluding Chinese components from Europe could be counterproductive.

Tipping point

“I really believe that floating wind is close to a tipping point that could unlock an almost unlimited potential,” Martin said.

“But I'm convinced that the only way for offshore wind, and renewables in general, to develop fully is by leveraging the whole global supply chain.”

Raising barriers in a segment of the supply chain where one country can be extremely efficient is a case of shooting oneself in the foot,” he said.

Martin sees wind turbine foundations as one of the clearest examples of a supply chain component where accessing the global supply chain can bring gains in cost and delivery without bringing any inherent risks.

But he reckons fears about potential Chinese advances in other segments might be overstated too, including concerns about espionage or cyber-attacks.

“Personally, I think that cybersecurity risks are significant, but not in the same way that people are talking about. Any infrastructure, whoever the manufacturer is, is subject to cyber-attacks. That is a big risk, but the fact of the equipment being Chinese or not is not necessarily relevant to that risk, there are ways to protect any infrastructure,” he said.

"Arguing for a blanket refusal of Chinese equipment makes no more sense that would be the case of Japan excluding European turbines,” he continued.

Martin acknowledges that this collaborative vision does not apply to all sectors — he points to defence as an obvious exception — but argues that "it is necessary to always look for the best solutions to achieve the right results".

European nations have a choice to make, Martin reckons, and contends that the conclusion should be a fairly obvious one.

“To be completely frank, there is simply not enough fabrication capacity in Europe to serve the floating offshore market, and it is companies like ours that make it happen," he said.

“Do we scale down our developments? Do we review our targets and reduce them by, 30%, 40% or 50%? Or do we try to seek a global collaboration that would allow the market to grow further?"

Eyes on the ball

Martin warns against losing sight of the "end-goal" of building an offshore wind industry which, he says, is "to decarbonise, providing cheap, clean power for energy independence and for ensuring the competitiveness of our industry through lower energy costs".

He warned against the dangers of confusing this goal with others.

"The goal of the offshore wind industry should not be to create a new industry supplying offshore wind," Martin argued. "Such an industry will follow, of course, and there are already many, many jobs created in the industry in Europe. That's a consequence, and a very positive side effect."

"But the end goal should be to produce abundant and cost-competitive green power to decarbonise our economy and secure strategic autonomy."

Martin backed his view by noting that the “vast majority” of solutions to offshore wind challenges “are and will remain Europe-based”.

“Take anything from mooring to electrical equipment, cables or floating designs… so many concepts, products, designs, engineering and services are European," he said.

Nobody can do it all

Martin stressed that offshore wind markets face the same logic everywhere, in that no single country can do everything.

"That's why we are fully committed to collaborating with local players, and we understand that collaborating will be different from one market to the next," he explains.

In Korea, for example, he nods to the "amazing job" that domestic companies have done for many years in shipbuilding, in oil and gas and other industries.

"It's normal they trust their own companies more than new companies coming in from abroad. But there is still a massive opportunity for collaboration because so much of the capacity is already taken for other industries that there's a need to leverage additional capacity from other places," Martin said.

"Similarly, our view is that for floating wind assembly will always happen in Europe, but the challenge is finding enough qualified people to conduct all the assembly work needed in Europe.

New environment

Martin says he has been impressed since starting his new job and praises the decision to have yard facilities dedicated to serving European markets and their needs.

“There is also a refreshingly humble approach toward seeking continuous improvement here... “especially when suggestions or ideas come from the client,” he said.

An example of this, Martin says, was Dajin’s decision to build and own its own transport vessels in response to a bottleneck in the supply of deck carriers,

"We might also look at adjacent activities if we find that there is an expertise gap, but always based on demands from our clients," he said.

Martin describes Dajin as a “fully private” listed company with a “strong transparency obligation and wholly focused on offshore wind.

While the company's one-stop solutions can include assembly, integration and transport, Martin stressed that Dajin Offshore is not looking to kick-start business by taking on the role of an EPC contractor or as a developer.

"We work very closely with all the different designers in the market," he said.

"We engage with them first to learn how to fabricate their design and we can provide feedback on how to improve the design for easier fabrication, but we are not keen on taking equity positions in technology developers or demonstration projects, for example."

"On steel we can cover any type of design and we have been approached for many of them," he said, noting that the market is converging around semi-submersibles.