Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2665 actions· ✨ 90 recent

UK Export Finance (UKEF) issued a EUR 146 million (USD ~170m) Buyer Credit Guarantee to support Orsted's Greater Changhua 2 offshore wind farm off Taiwan (632 MW capacity), co-financed alongside export credit agencies from Denmark, Norway, South Korea and Taiwan and a 25-bank commercial syndicate led by Credit Agricole CIB. The guarantee is conditioned on the project procuring specialised services and components from named UK exporters (Cadeler, CRP Subsea, Ordtek, Cathie), making it a local-value-added-linked export-credit instrument rather than untied project finance.

UK Export Finance (UKEF) approved export credit support with a maximum liability of approximately GBP 245 million (USD ~333m) for Cathay Wind Power Co Ltd, borrower for the Greater Changhua 4 (Northwest) offshore wind farm off Taiwan's western coast (42 x 14MW turbines, 583MW grid capacity; project company Greater Changhua Offshore Wind Farm NW Ltd, jointly owned by Orsted Wind Power TW Holdings A/S and Cathay Wind Power Co Ltd). The support covers construction services and equipment, with UK content supplied by Seajacks (installation vessel charter) and CRP Subsea (cabling), making it a local-value-added-linked export-credit instrument rather than untied project finance.

Regulation (EU) 2024/1735 - the Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA) - was published in the Official Journal on 22 June 2024 and entered into force on 12 July 2024 (twenty days after OJ publication). It sets a binding target that at least 40% of the EU's annual deployment needs for net-zero technologies be manufactured within the EU by 2030. It establishes a streamlined permitting regime for Net-Zero Strategic Projects (NZSP) capped at 18 months for construction permits (9 months for smaller projects), creates Net-Zero Regulatory Sandboxes, and requires public procurers and auction designers to include resilience and sustainability criteria that effectively favour non-China-sourced equipment. The Act is the manufacturing-capacity complement to the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA, Reg 2024/1252, filed separately) and was explicitly designed to close the EU's competitive gap with US IRA manufacturing incentives.

Denmark's foundational cross-sector horizontal FDI screening statute. Lov nr 842 of 10 May 2021 — investeringsscreeningsloven — was adopted by the Folketing on 4 May 2021, signed on 10 May 2021, and entered into force on 1 July 2021 (with application to transactions implemented from 1 September 2021). The Act is administered by Erhvervsstyrelsen (Danish Business Authority) and combines (i) a mandatory pre-closing authorisation regime for foreign investments in "particularly sensitive sectors" — defence, dual-use products, IT-security functions/services, critical technology, critical infrastructure — triggered at 10% ownership / voting rights or equivalent control, with (ii) a voluntary notification scheme (typically engaged at 25%+) for foreign investments and special economic agreements in other sectors. Enforcement runs through blocking orders, unwinding orders, and criminal sanctions including fines and imprisonment. Structural peer of the US CFIUS regime, EU Regulation 2019/452, the German AWG §§55-62, the French Décret 2014-479 / R. 151-1 et seq., the UK NSI Act 2021, the Netherlands Wet Vifo, the Italian Golden Power Decree, and the Swedish FDI screening regime.