* Europe has painful memories of Chinese solar panels
* German government said it was monitoring Mingyang deal
* RWE visited Mingyang production in China
* China exploring production in Europe

By Riham Alkousaa, Christoph Steitz and Nina Chestney
       BERLIN/FRANKFURT/LONDON, July 19 (Reuters) - Chinese
wind turbine-makers this month clinched their first order in
Germany, as they build momentum in the European market and add
to concern in the EU industry that it faces an existential
threat.
    Tensions are high between Beijing and Brussels, the world's
two biggest wind markets, as the European Commission, the EU
executive, has launched an investigation into whether Chinese
players enjoy unfair subsidies.
    Europe is scarred by the experience of its solar industry
more than a decade ago when policymakers took limited action to
curb Chinese imports and many European manufacturers collapsed.
    Chinese manufacturers Goldwind            , Mingyang Smart
Energy             and Windey             so far account for
less than 1% of Europe's wind capacity, but their orders
amounted to 1.2 gigawatts (GW) in 2023 alone, WindEurope data
shows. It previously took them a decade to install that volume.
    So far this year, European orders for Chinese-made turbines
have reached 546 megawatts (MW).
    That includes an order at the start of this month from
project firm Luxcara in Germany with Mingyang for wind turbines
with a total capacity of 296 MW. It was the first order for
Chinese-made turbines from Europe's biggest economy and the
German government said it would examine the decision closely.   
       
    European industry officials say China could be in Europe to
stay.
    "Once you open the door you can't close it again," said
Wolfram Axthelm, managing director of Germany's wind power
association BWE, adding that overcapacity meant Chinese rivals
were seeking to flood the European market.
    None of the companies would comment on claims by European
industry representatives that Chinese manufacturers offer
incentives, such as deferred payments, and prices that are up to
50% lower those of than European rivals.
    According to the Global Wind Energy Council, China has
production capacity of around 82 GW, more than the domestic
market was able to absorb last year and nearly four times
Europe's capacity.
    The Chinese Wind Energy Association said Europe needed to
buy equipment from China, and that failing to do so would put EU
expansion targets at risk "in the face of Europe's wind power
production capacity gap".
    
    VISIT TO CHINA
    Major wind project developers such as EnBW           and
BayWa             have so far avoided the use of Chinese
turbines.
    In a LinkedIn post in early July, RWE's           head of
offshore wind Sven Utermoehlen said he had visited Mingyang's
production facilities to get a better understanding of its
products. The visit took place at the end of June.
    RWE, the world's second-biggest offshore wind farm
developer, told Reuters it wanted to keep working with
established firms.
    However, strong market growth meant it needed to understand
whether Asian suppliers "can meet our requirements in terms of
technology, quality, safety and cost-effectiveness".
    Mingyang was the only company that would guarantee delivery
of an 18.5 MW model by 2028, Luxcara said.
    An 18 MW offshore turbine can produce enough power to supply
more than 30,000 households.
    The ambition of the Chinese companies is apparent in the
size of their output. Mingyang makes offshore turbines with
rotor diameters of 260 metres, among the biggest in the
industry.
    
    WILL CHINA START PRODUCING IN EUROPE?
    Despite the challenge of shipping gigantic equipment,
Mingyang and most other Chinese turbine makers have no
production facilities in Europe.
    Vensys, a division of Goldwind is an exception. It plans to
produce an 86-metre wind turbine blade model at its factory in
Ferreira, Spain, it told Reuters in June, without providing
further details.
    Zhenshi Holding Group in March acquired an Airbus         
factory in Spain to manufacture wind turbine blades, according
to real estate firm Colliers, which advised on the transaction.
    Evgenia Golysheva, VP Strategy and Operations at ONYX
Insight, a renewable technology firm that helps to service wind
turbines, said the companies would need local production.
Without it, they would struggle to maintain equipment without
shipping parts huge distances.
    Chinese wind turbine maker Sany             said last year
it was weighing the construction of a turbine plant in Europe.
It has hired former executives from Siemens Gamesa and Nordex
          to strengthen its local team, updated LinkedIn
profiles showed.
    Sany was not available for comment for this story and 
Goldwind and Zhenshi declined to comment.
    Mingyang said Chinese competition was beneficial to Europe,
although it understood not everyone would welcome it.
    "Some competitors ... don't want us to be in Europe. It can
be understandable," Zhang Qiying, chief technology officer of
Mingyang, told Reuters.
    "If the West demands our turbines, then we will be there."
($1 = 0.9173 euros)

    
 (Reporting by Riham Alkousaa and Markus Wacket in Berlin,
Christoph Steitz in Frankfurt and Nina Chestney in London;
Additional reporting by Pietro Lombardi in Madrid and Colleen
Howe in Beijing; Editing by Barbara Lewis)