Bad news continues to emerge in the overseas wind power industry. Orsted, the global leader in offshore wind power, has suffered a major setback. The company has abandoned two key projects in the United States, Ocean Wind 1 and 2, and has recorded a write-down of 28.4 billion Danish kroner (approximately 4 billion US dollars), far exceeding the expectations of investors and analysts. As a result, the company's stock price has plummeted to a six-year low.
According to reports on Wednesday, supply chain delays have affected the progress of the projects. Changes in the monetization of tax credits, timing arrangements, and the possibility of final construction permits, as well as the rise in long-term interest rates in the United States, have further hindered the projects. This highlights the increasingly severe challenges facing the wind energy industry.
The impairment charge is related to Orsted's offshore wind power investment portfolio in the United States. The company had previously warned that due to the increasing supply chain risks of its US projects, it is expected to record impairment charges of 8 to 11 billion Danish kroner in the fourth quarter to cover the costs of contract cancellations not covered by the write-down.
After the news was released, Orsted's stock price plummeted by more than 20%. The year-to-date decline has expanded to 57%, reaching a six-year low.
However, the company has announced that it has made a final investment decision on the Revolution Wind project off the coast of Rhode Island, which means that the project will enter the construction phase. Orsted and Eversource will each contribute 50% of the investment in this project, which is expected to be completed in 2025.
Orsted stated that it will now begin to reduce costs and take other measures to strengthen its capital structure, and will evaluate its long-term strategic construction goals and financial targets.
It is worth mentioning that Orsted is not the only wind power company facing financial challenges. Developers are struggling to prove the feasibility of advancing large-scale, capital-intensive offshore wind power projects due to inflation-driven increases in material and service costs, supply chain backlogs, and rising capital costs. This has made current development projects potentially unprofitable, forcing developers to consider the feasibility of continuing development.
Last month, New York regulators rejected requests from offshore wind power developers such as BP, Equinor, and Orsted to increase offshore wind power fees. Equinor announced last week that it has written down approximately 300 million US dollars from its New York project, while BP recorded a write-down of 540 million US dollars yesterday. Both companies are currently evaluating their next steps.

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Abandoning two key projects in the United States and a far greater-than-expected asset impairment have caused Orsted's stock price to plummet to a six-year low.

Plunging 20%, the "world's leading offshore wind power company" has once again encountered a major setback!