Green Dreams Turn Into Nightmares: After US Withdrawal, Orsted Pulls Out Of Norway Wind Bidding

By Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com

Danish offshore wind developer Orsted has officially withdrawn from a consortium set to bid on Norwegian offshore wind projects just days after pulling out of two U.S. offshore wind projects, Reuters reports, citing one of the consortium partners. 

The withdrawal comes just two days before Norway’s November 15 deadline to submit pre-qualification interests for the building of up to 1.5 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity. 

“Orsted has informed us that due to a prioritisation of investments in the portfolio, it will withdraw from pursuing participation in offshore wind developments in Norway, and therefore their participation in the partnership will discontinue,” Norway’s Bonheur ASA (BONHR.OL) said in a statement to Reuters.

Separately, Orsted told Reuters by email that it was no longer prioritizing offshore wind development in Norway. 

Earlier in November, Orsted walked away from U.S. offshore wind projects, citing soaring costs, supply chain issues and high interest rates. 

Prior to withdrawing from the U.S. projects, Orsted CEO Mads Nipper told Bloomberg that the Biden administration needed to guarantee more support for the projects at a time when soaring inflation was undermining the renewable energy sector. Orsted would have received at least 30% tax credits under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA); however, the company had asked the Biden administration to guarantee subsidies without the domestic content requirement as well as requesting more time to source U.S.-made materials due to supply chain bottlenecks. 

In late August, Orsted warned that it could face up to $2.3 billion in impairments on the U.S. projects. 

Orsted’s stock plummeted 20% on November 1 when it officially withdrew from the U.S. projects.

Renewable energy stocks have significantly underperformed their fossil fuel peers and the broader market in the current year, with the selloff accelerating recently due to high interest rates and despite the IRA.