US Crack Down on Wind Farms Sends Orsted (Denmark) Shares Plunging,
Trump Halts $6.2 Billion Rhode Island Wind Project
An order to stop work on the Revolution
Wind project off Rhode Island further rattled the beleaguered Danish company.
Shares
of Danish offshore wind developer Orsted
tumbled more than 16% to
record lows in Copenhagen trading on Monday (Aug. 25, 2025)
after the Trump administration ordered a halt to its $6.2 billion Revolution Wind project
off Rhode Island. The move, citing environmental and national security
concerns, threatens one of Orsted’s flagship U.S. investments and deepens
uncertainty over the company’s American strategy.
The
704-megawatt project, a 50/50 joint venture with Skyborn Renewables (backed by BlackRock Infrastructure),
was set to power 350,000
homes in Rhode Island and Connecticut by spring 2026 and was
reportedly 80% complete.
The
halt adds to pressure on Orsted, which earlier this month announced plans to
raise 60 billion Danish
kroner ($9.4 billion) through a share issue after failing to
sell a stake in another U.S. project, Sunrise Wind. Analysts warn the latest
setback could make Orsted’s stock “difficult to invest in.”
The
Danish government, which owns 50.1%
of Orsted, reiterated support for the capital raise, while the
company said it was exploring options to resolve the matter “with permitting
agencies and, potentially, through legal proceedings.”
The
administration’s action echoes a previous order against Equinor’s Empire Wind project off
Long Island, later reversed after lobbying from New York officials. But
analysts caution that investing further in U.S. offshore wind has become
increasingly risky under Trump’s opposition to renewables, leaving Orsted with
a dilemma between cutting
losses or doubling
down in a hostile policy environment.
Shares
of Orsted, the Danish wind farm developer, plunged on Monday (25.08.2025) after
the Trump administration ordered a halt to a $6.2 billion project off the coast
of Rhode Island, raising questions about the future of the company.
Orsted,
which has helped establish offshore wind as a major source of power in Europe,
had tried to replicate that success through large investments in the United
States. It has been tripped up, first by inflation and higher interest rates
and, more recently, by opposition to renewable energy from President Trump.
The
company’s share price fell more than 16 percent Monday to fresh record lows in
trading in Copenhagen.
“This
latest development from the hostile U.S. administration is yet another blow to
Orsted and makes the stock difficult to invest in,” Deepa Venkateswaran, an
analyst at the Wall Street research firm Bernstein, wrote in a note to clients.
The
wind farm, called Revolution Wind, aimed to supply electricity to 350,000 homes
in Rhode Island and Connecticut by next spring.
Revolution
Wind is a 50/50 joint venture between Orsted and Skyborn
Renewables, a company in the investment portfolio of BlackRock’s infrastructure
unit.
The
order on Friday to stop work on one of the Danish company’s premier projects
heaped pressure on the company, which is seeking new funds from investors.
Earlier
this month, Orsted rattled investors when it announced that it would need to
raise 60 billion Danish kroner, or about $9.4 billion, by issuing new shares
because of its inability to sell a stake in Sunrise Wind, another project off
the East Coast of the United States.
In
her note, Ms. Venkateswaran said the order to cease work on Revolution Wind was
“out of the blue” given that the project, according to Orsted, was 80 percent
complete.
In
a letter to Orsted ordering it to halt construction,
the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which supervises offshore
development, mentioned “protection of the environment” and concerns about
“national security” but gave little further detail.
On
Monday, Orsted said that it would proceed with “preparation” for the planned
share issue and that the Danish government, which owns 50.1 percent of the
company, continued to support the offering.
Of
the Revolution Wind project, the company said it “was evaluating all options to
resolve the matter expeditiously with permitting agencies and, potentially,
through legal proceedings.”
Equinor,
the Norwegian energy giant, and Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York were able to
persuade the Trump administration this year to reverse an order to stop another
large project, Empire Wind, off Long Island. Equinor wrote down nearly $1
billion in value because of the resulting delays.
Analysts
say Orsted faces difficult decisions in the United States. Abandoning these
projects would waste the capital already invested and lead to cancellation fees
to contractors.
Yet
putting additional money into U.S. projects is now risky, given the skepticism of the Trump administration about offshore wind.
“It remains to be seen if management are willing to take such risk or decide to
walk away,” analysts from Citigroup wrote.