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The world’s largest offshore wind developer has unveiled new notes on its U.S. business as it tries to get out of trouble in the country.
Ørsted announced a total deficit of DKK12.1bn (£1.36bn) on Monday evening, blaming interest rates, supply chain challenges and “market uncertainty”.
The announcement follows DKK28.4bn. defects In the year With the Danish company’s US portfolio in 2023, rising interest rates and supply chain challenges are to blame, and it raises many questions about its strategy in the country.
It comes hours after Donald Trump promised to end offshore wind projects during his campaign on “day one” of his presidency.
The White House said in a press release on Monday that Trump’s energy policies would “end leases to giant wind farms that are destroying our natural landscape and undermining America’s energy consumers.”
Trump also indicated that he would withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, an international effort to curb climate change signed in 2016.
Chief executive Mads Nipper said the setbacks were “very disappointing” but the company was “committed to the US market for the long term”.
He added: “We continue to navigate the complexities and uncertainties we face in the nascent offshore industry in the new US market.
ØInitiated In the year He entered the United States in 2018 It is a pioneer in the offshore wind industry, but has struggled with many of its peers as interest rates rise and supply chains are strained following the Covid pandemic.
In the year In November 2023, it said it had left shareholders on a DKK28.4bn write-off by abandoning two projects off the coast of New Jersey, which was higher than expected.
In an attempt to turn around the business, the company announced last February that it was cutting a dividend and cutting up to 800 jobs and trying to focus on key offshore wind markets in Norway, Spain and Portugal.
In Monday’s announcement, Ørsted said the increase in US long-term interest rates increased its capital expenditure, which accounted for DKK4.3bn of the DKK12.1bn total impairment.
It held another DKK3.5bn due to “market uncertainty” affecting the value of several offshore leases, while the final DKK4.3bn covered delays at the Solar Wind offshore wind project off the coast of New York. This project is now scheduled to be completed and operational in the second half of 2027.
However, Ørsted said it would maintain its full-year operating profit guidance of 24.8bn for 2024. It said its wind farms, both onshore and offshore, performed in line with expectations. Revenues by 2023 total $79.3 billion.
The company’s shares have fallen nearly 20 percent over the past 12 months, and are 77 percent below their peak in January 2021, fueling interest in local stocks.
