"If you look around, you'll find China everywhere." A German leading household energy storage enterprise public relations department head told the *Nanhu Zao Bao*.
Data confirmed his statement. At the “Smarter E Europe” exhibition last week, out of more than 2,650 exhibitors, approximately 750 were based in China, making them the second-largest group of exhibitors after Germany, the host country. The actual number is even higher, as the list counts companies by their registration location, not by ownership.
The booth of his company at the largest solar and energy storage exhibition in Europe held in Munich was located next to several Chinese exhibitors, including Maidian Energy, Hibos Technology, and CATL.
At the European Smart Energy Exhibition, Haibo Technology signed framework agreements in the energy storage field with German renewable energy EPC company GOLDBECK SOLAR and Italian energy infrastructure company Redelfi. The cooperation volumes reached 1GWh for GOLDBECK SOLAR and 4.6GWh for Redelfi. LinYang Energy also signed strategic cooperation agreements with German WAGO Group, Polish Q-All IT Green Energy, and Polish Energynat Group. In addition, several Chinese companies secured European orders at the exhibition.
But just a few weeks before the exhibition opened, the European Commission prohibited Chinese inverters from participating in all EU-funded projects, citing risks related to network security and dependence.
An inverter is a device that converts the electricity generated by solar panels and batteries into electricity that can be connected to the grid. Industry organizations estimate that Chinese-made inverters are used in over 220 gigawatts of solar power generation installations in Europe.
"Right now, we can't live without the inverters from China... We will continue to try and achieve diversified supply, but we still purchase a large amount of inverters from China at present," said a senior executive at a major European utility company anonymously and with a sigh, "Diversification is necessary, but if we say we don’t buy Chinese products completely right now, the situation would be incredibly complicated."
At the beginning of this year, the European Commission officially proposed a revision of the Cybersecurity Act (CSA2). Discussions related to CSA2 began to introduce non-technical factors such as the origin of suppliers, imposing restrictions on suppliers identified as “high-risk” in 18 sectors, including energy. Under this framework, the new energy sector became one of the industries that first reflected the policy orientation. The financing restrictions on inverters can be seen as a concrete implementation of this policy orientation in the energy sector.
According to a report published by the EU China Chamber of Commerce and KPMG, titled "Regulatory Imbalance Damages Others and Ultimately Harms All—An Economic Impact Assessment of the EU Cybersecurity Law Amendment Proposals and a Position Analysis Report from the EU China Chamber of Commerce," if CSA2 is implemented, EU member states will face an economic loss of 367.8 billion euros within five years. Considering the replacement of core hardware in the three major sectors of photovoltaic, wind power, and energy storage, which are key to the EU's green transformation efforts, and taking into account both the difficulty and feasibility of actual replacements, the cost of replacing existing household energy storage equipment is excluded from this loss calculation. Assuming forced dismantling over five years, the total loss for the energy industry would be as high as 79.9 billion euros, making it one of the most severely affected sectors.
Ironically, at the beginning, European media had no evidence to maliciously claim that "Chinese inverters could cause a power outage across Europe." But now, as extreme heatwaves sweep through many European countries, Europe's energy system, which has entered a "grilling mode," is under increasing pressure. Local infrastructure facilities are indeed reporting urgent situations one after another.
On June 26, 2026, local time, in Greenburen, Belgium, the thermometer showed temperatures reaching 45°C. Eastern IC
The high temperature and high pressure weather in Europe has caused a sharp drop in wind speed, resulting in a significant decrease in wind power generation. Many gas power plants in the UK have experienced unit shutdowns. The efficiency of wind farms across Europe has significantly declined. In France and Switzerland, power generation at some nuclear power plants has also decreased. Excessively high river water temperatures have made it difficult to carry out normal reactor cooling operations. The high temperatures have put pressure on the European power system, leading to power outages in several regions of France.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros pointed out that European homes, workplaces, and schools are poorly prepared for extreme heat. Since June 21, more than 1,300 excessive deaths related to high temperatures have been recorded in Europe.
Excess death count refers to the difference between the estimated total number of deaths in a specific location and during a specific period, and the estimated number of deaths without any health crises.
Affected by extreme heatwaves, many people in European countries rely heavily on air conditioners and fans to combat the historically rare high temperatures. As a result, electricity demand has surged, and air conditioners manufactured in China are being delivered to the European continent on an unprecedented scale. Driven by strong cross-border e-commerce channels, the orders for cooling products made in China have significantly increased, becoming a new growth point for foreign trade exports this summer. From January to May 2026, the number of household air conditioners exported from China to Western Europe increased by 9.7% year-on-year, and the export volume of mobile air conditioners increased by more than 70% year-on-year.
As electricity demand rises across Europe, while power generation from various sources decreases simultaneously, electricity prices in the European market have reached multi-year highs. In countries like the UK, Germany, and France, electricity prices have soared to new highs over the past year. The UK's national grid regulation agency is forced to purchase electricity at high prices to ensure supply.
Facing soaring electricity prices and an inadequate power supply system, high-ranking officials in the European Commission building continue to exploit concerns about China for people who desperately need air conditioners and fans to cope with the heat. In this unbearable heat, what truly deserves concern is where this unrealistic panic will lead Europe’s energy resources.
