It is expensive to join hands with the US President, Donald Trump, if you are a green energy company. The Danish energy group Ørsted found out in 2025, when a series of obstacles from the president's administration resulted in a bill running into billions.
This was emphasized on Friday, when Ørsted presented its annual accounts. It was already clear from the beginning of last year that 2025 would end up being a busy and different year for Ørsted.
The company changed its top position at the beginning of the year. This gave a new man - Rasmus Errboe - the responsibility of taking on the powerful president.
Cannot rule out a negative outcome in legal cases
Trump made it clear from the start of 2025 that he would rather see the US focus on oil and gas than renewable energy from wind turbines.
Ørsted felt this attitude firsthand in September, when the construction of the offshore wind farm Revolution Wind off the American coast was put on hold by the country's authorities.
A few months later, a regular construction halt was imposed on a number of offshore wind projects - including Revolution Wind and another Ørsted project called Sunrise Wind.
Ørsted stated in its annual report on Friday that this had led to a total write-down of 1.1 billion kroner. The bill took a bigger bite out of the 2025 surplus, which ended up at just under 3.2 billion kroner.
The US Department of the Interior has previously justified its order with concerns that the movement of wind turbine blades and reflective towers cause radar interference. The decision to put the projects on hold will have to be decided in court. So far, Ørsted has received a judge's word that the company can continue building until a final decision is made in the main case.
- We cannot rule out the risk of a negative outcome, Ørsted wrote in its financial statements on Friday.
Regardless of what happens, the group should not expect this to be the Trump administration's last attempt to put a stop to the projects.
Analyst sees reason for positivity
But perhaps there are still positive things to take away for the Danish company, says Jacob Pedersen, head of equity research at AL Sydbank. He follows the company closely.
- Judges have so far been very clear that the construction halts have been justified for nothing. So I find it hard to see Ørsted being forced to shut down the projects based on a court ruling, he says.
- My main scenario is that both projects will produce electricity, but that it will be extremely expensive to get there because the American authorities continue to block the way.
Ørsted's business model is to build large new wind farms and then sell off its ownership shares to create capital to be able to do it all over again. That is why it is crucial that the company reaches its goal with projects like the American ones.
Revolution Wind is currently 87 percent completed, it was stated in the accounts. That is why Jacob Pedersen also believes that it is only a matter of months before the project produces electricity. With the Sunrise Wind project barely half complete, the company is one and a half to two years away from seeing revenue, according to the head of equity research.
Last year, Ørsted had a turnover of just over 73.2 billion kroner, which was more than two billion more than in 2024.
- I am satisfied with the major steps we have taken to create a stronger, more focused and more competitive Ørsted, even though we still have a lot of work ahead of us, said CEO Rasmus Errboe on Friday.
The operating profit before depreciation and amortization ended at 25.1 billion kroner. It is expected to grow to at least 28 billion kroner in 2026.
/ritzau/
Text, graphics, images, sound, and other content on this website are protected under copyright law. DK Medier reserves all rights to the content, including the right to exploit the content for the purpose of text and data mining, cf. Section 11b of the Copyright Act and Article 4 of the DSM Directive.
Customers with IP agreements/major customer agreements may only share Danish Offshore Industry articles internally for the purpose of handling specific cases. Sharing in connection with specific cases refers to journaling, archiving, or similar uses.
Customers with a personal subscription/login may not share Danish Offshore Industry articles with individuals who do not themselves have a personal subscription to Danish Offshore Industry.
Any deviation from the above requires written consent from DK Medier.
