The political winds have turned fiercely against Danish energy firm Ørsted, forcing it into a $9 billion rescue operation and sending its stock price to an all-time low. The company has squarely blamed the hostile turn on the policies of the Trump administration.
Ørsted’s financial plans were blown off course when it became clear it could no longer fund its US projects by selling stakes in them. The administration’s review of wind permitting has so devalued these American assets that the company’s entire business model for the region has been “derailed.”
These political gales are hitting an industry already navigating the choppy waters of post-pandemic supply chain problems and rising interest rates. Trump’s long-standing disdain for wind farms has created a perfect storm of political and economic challenges.
The rescue operation, a massive rights issue, is backed by the Danish state, which owns half the company. The goal is to provide “financial robustness” and help Ørsted weather what its CEO, Rasmus Errboe, has called an “extraordinary situation.”