The European Commission will not extend its November 1 deadline for phasing out Chinese-made power inverters from EU-funded energy projects, despite calls from investors and the renewable energy industry for more time.
Industry groups and institutional investors had hoped Brussels would delay the deadline amid concerns over the availability and cost of alternatives. But EU officials told Euronews the Commission intends to stick to its timetable.
From November 1, projects connected or due to be connected to the EU electricity grid will have to exclude high-risk suppliers or progressively switch to inverters from suppliers not deemed high-risk.
The decision leaves industry and investor concerns largely unanswered as the deadline approaches.
Earlier this year, the EU executive adopted interim policy guidance restricting the use of EU funding for clean energy projects, namely solar, wind and storage, that rely on inverters from high-risk suppliers, meaning Chinese companies such as Huawei.
The move was driven by cybersecurity concerns, particularly the risk that manufacturers could remotely access and manipulate inverters, potentially destabilising electricity grids and triggering blackouts.
But the initiative also prompted significant concern from institutional investors such as the European Investment Bank and the renewable energy sector, which have questioned whether alternative inverter producers can match the required volumes and costs.
Following a business roundtable in June convened specifically to address these concerns, industry and investor stakeholders had hoped for derogations to the 1 November deadline.
Stakeholders argue that the Commission's timetable is unrealistic and could create significant financial and practical problems for renewable energy projects at a time when energy costs are soaring across the EU.
Commission departments were initially divided, with the Secretariat-General pushing hardest for a strict line against the Directorate-General for International Partnerships; that gap appears to have narrowed, with more alignment now emerging within the EU executive.
Some stakeholders still hope the Commission will grant case-by-case derogations rather than blocking a project outright, as was the case where delays stem from unforeseen circumstances such as hold-ups in the permitting process.
Nevertheless, project managers and investors will now have to fall in line, revising budgeted costs that extend beyond the inverters themselves to warranties and related services such as maintenance.
The Commission, for its part, says that a viable alternative supply of non-Chinese inverters already exists, and that the price of guaranteeing the security of Europe's energy infrastructure is a modest one to pay.