Stefan Gsänger, Secretary General of the World Wind Energy Association (WWEA) at the Offshore Wind Conference 2026.
At the Offshore Wind Conference 2026 held in Shanghai Hongqiao, New Energy Nexus (NEX) China had an open and insightful conversation with Stefan Gsänger, Secretary General of the World Wind Energy Association (WWEA).
As one of the most experienced global advocates in the wind energy sector, Stefan has worked in the energy transition field for more than 25 years. He has been actively engaged across Europe, Asia, Central Asia, and Africa, promoting international collaboration, community energy development, and the vision of 100% renewable energy. During the nearly two-hour discussion, we went beyond wind power technologies and explored the evolving global energy landscape, China’s changing role, and future directions for international cooperation.
From Technology Competition to Competition in System Capabilities
In Stefan’s view, the global energy transition has entered a new phase. In the past, the focus was on who possessed more advanced technologies; today, a more important question is who can build comprehensive energy system capabilities.
This shift is particularly evident in China. Over the past decade, China has grown from a follower in clean energy technologies into one of the world’s most important players. Across wind power, solar PV, energy storage, and electric vehicles, China has not only built a complete supply chain but has also rapidly accumulated experience in market deployment.
However, Stefan believes China’s future role should not stop at being a technology supplier. Chinese companies need to gradually shift from an export-oriented mindset to a global partner mindset. This means exporting not only equipment, but also system integration capabilities, business models, project experience, and the practical wisdom accumulated throughout the energy transition.
China: Not Just a Manufacturing Hub, but a Living Laboratory
One idea resonated strongly throughout the discussion: China is not only a global manufacturing hub for clean energy technologies, but also a vast living laboratory.
A large market, abundant data, and rapid industrial iteration are constantly validating new energy solutions.
From electric vehicles and zero-carbon industrial parks to renewable energy integration and new power systems, many innovations are being deployed first in China.
These experiences are gradually becoming an important form of China’s soft power in the global energy transition. For emerging economies that are still building out their energy infrastructure, they offer valuable lessons.
Stefan pointed out that, unlike Europe, which is primarily replacing existing energy systems, many countries in Asia and Africa have the opportunity to build new energy systems from the ground up. Under such circumstances, China’s experience becomes even more transferable.
The Energy Transition Is More Than a Technical Issue
Stefan repeatedly emphasized that the energy transition is fundamentally a social transformation.
Across Europe, more community energy projects are emerging. In some cases, wind farms have been converted from traditional development models into cooperatives, allowing local residents to participate in investment, decision-making, and benefit sharing.
This not only improves public acceptance but also ensures that ordinary people benefit directly from the transition. Similar explorations are now taking place in China. More and more rural renewable energy projects are enabling local residents and village collectives to become participants and beneficiaries rather than bystanders.
During the conversation, we also shared NEX China’s casebook ‘Small Money, Big Change’, which features innovative renewable energy financing models in rural China. One example from Dalad Banner in Inner Mongolia particularly caught Stefan’s attention: local villagers and herders invested in a distributed wind power project and gradually transformed from traditional energy consumers into beneficiaries of renewable energy revenues. Stefan expressed strong interest in these cases and hoped to read the full casebook.
In his view, these community-rooted practices that balance economic development with the energy transition carry value not only for China, but also for many other countries.
Perhaps, more than grand narratives, these real stories happening in villages, communities, and ordinary people’s lives can become a window through which the world better understands China’s energy transition.
Where Are the New Opportunities for Global Energy Cooperation?
Despite a complex international environment, Stefan remains optimistic. He believes that the most promising opportunities in the future may not emerge in mature markets, but rather through new forms of collaboration among emerging markets.
Central Asia is a prime example.
Countries such as Kazakhstan possess abundant wind resources and vast land areas, yet they still require support in financing mechanisms, industrial ecosystems, and international resource mobilization.
Stefan expressed strong interest in exploring future collaboration pathways between WWEA and NEX China.
This also points to a ‘golden triangle’ model worth exploring over the long term: a new cooperation network that brings together European industry organizations and ecosystem enablers, China’s mature technologies and solutions, and the practical needs of emerging markets.
In this model, Europe contributes international networks and industry expertise, China provides market-proven technologies and system solutions, and emerging markets become new spaces for innovation and green industrial development. China is no longer merely an equipment exporter, nor is Europe solely a rule-maker; together, they can become enablers of the energy transition in emerging economies.
Across Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and the broader Global South, this cross-regional collaboration has the potential to create jobs, cultivate local green industries, and promote a more inclusive and sustainable development model. In many ways, this represents the next stage of global energy cooperation: a shift from one-way export to co-creation.
Telling China Stories May Be More Important Than Exporting Technology
Toward the end of the discussion, we touched upon a shared concern: how can the world better understand China?
Stefan acknowledged that misconceptions about China’s renewable energy sector still exist in some developed economies. At the same time, more entrepreneurs, businesses, and local institutions from emerging and developing countries are actively seeking opportunities to work with China.
Their focus is not geopolitics, but a more practical question: how to achieve a faster, more efficient, and more affordable energy transition.
What Will the Next Decade Look Like?
Perhaps China’s most important export in the next decade will no longer be equipment and products, but real stories – stories about innovation, collaboration, and enabling more people to participate in the energy transition.
Organizations such as NEX and WWEA, as ecosystem builders, are becoming important bridges connecting countries, industries, and communities.
In the next decade, a more important question than who possesses the most advanced technology may be: who can create the future together with more partners? Because the energy transition is never a one-country performance. It is a long-term endeavor that requires global collaboration.
