The “Trump Effect” has hit the renewable energy sector with full force, causing wind power leader Ørsted to crash on the stock market and seek $9 billion just to survive. The company’s shares plunged to their lowest point ever after it revealed the emergency fundraising plan, a direct reaction to the administration’s hostile policies.
At the heart of the crisis is a freeze on the US offshore wind industry, orchestrated by the Trump administration’s review of all project permits and leases. This has made it impossible for Ørsted to utilize its standard financing model of selling project equity, leaving a massive hole in its budget.
The company’s CEO, Rasmus Errboe, has called the circumstances “extraordinary.” He pinpointed the combination of antagonistic US policy and ongoing supply chain difficulties as the drivers behind the company’s unprecedented financial distress and the need for a massive capital injection.
While the Danish government, Ørsted’s main shareholder, has greenlit the rescue plan, investors are wary. The situation has thrown the future of one of the world’s most promising clean energy markets into doubt, raising fears that Trump’s long-standing opposition to wind power could have devastating global consequences.
