Danish offshore wind company Ørsted recently sought and won U.S. court support to reverse the Trump administration’s stop-work order so it can complete construction on its Revolution Wind project in offshore Rhode Island and Connecticut. The $1.5-billion project was projected to generate 8.1 gigawatts of power for 350,000 homes in two states.
The project was scheduled to go online in 2026 under a 20-year supply agreement and was reportedly 80-percent completed when it received the order from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. The BOEM cited national security concerns as its reason for the halt.
This is the second project for which the Trump administration has issued a stop-work order in 2025: In April, Equinor’s $5-billion Empire Wind project was ordered to stop construction. After Norwegian government intervention, BOEM allowed Equinor to resume.
Some analysts think that the Trump administration has targeted Ørsted and its offshore wind projects, not only because of Trump’s strong belief that offshore wind is bad for the United States, but also due to ongoing diplomatic wrangling with Denmark following Trump’s public statement to take over Greenland.
Less than five years ago, the Danish energy company was seen as a shining example of how a company could transform from an oil and gas producer to a pure renewables company. Since then, it has encountered strong headwinds.
How did Ørsted get here and what could its future look like?
A Promising Start
Ørsted was formerly named Danish Oil and Natural Gas, a midsize European oil and gas producer. In 2017, it rebranded as Ørsted, in memory of Danish physicist Hans Christian Ørsted, who discovered electromagnetism. Ørsted said that the core of its business is to generate power using offshore wind and other renewable energies.
At that time, Ørsted was a leader in the energy transition, leveraging its strength as an offshore engineering company and its offshore wind resources in the North Sea. Ørsted rode a social and investor wave as Europe led the world in the fight against climate change. From January 2018 to January 2021, its share price on the Copenhagen stock exchange went from 350 DKr to 1,300 DKr. Its market cap reached $130 billion in 2021.
Ørsted also benefited from great prospects of offshore wind along the east coast of the United States, as the Biden administration provided clear policy support. Together with European majors Shell, BP and Equinor, Ørsted developed offshore wind farms along the Atlantic coast.
The industry saw three features as key to wind project success:
- A shallow sea floor, where large wind turbines can be installed relatively inexpensively along the seabed
- Booming cities and population centers with a strong demand for energy
- Strong port and other supporting infrastructure
These, alongside strong government support and blue state incentives, accelerated Ørsted’s investment pace along the east coast.
Hitting Turbulence
As European companies poured billions of dollars of investments into the United States, a number of unfavorable events started to unfold.
First came COVID-19, which created economic downturn and lowered energy demand. That was followed by high inflation and interest rates. Even before the Trump administration returned to the White House, the U.S. offshore wind industry was in deep trouble. Cost escalation, high interest rates and lack of logistic support forced BP, Shell and Equinor to write off billions of dollars for their offshore wind projects. Ørsted’s share price declined roughly 85 percent from its peak at around 1,300 Dkr to 200 DKr in mid-September 2024.
Trump Returns
Trump is famously against offshore wind, calling it the “scam of the century.” He issued an executive order on his first day in office to withdraw all areas on the Outer Continental Shelf from offshore wind leasing. It also announced that it would review existing permits for offshore wind projects.
Then, on 16 April, BOEM issued a stop-work order for Equinor’s Empire Wind project in offshore New York. During the Gastech Exhibition and Conference 2025 in Milan in September, U.S. Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum told the audience that five other offshore wind projects are under review and commented, “For this administration, there is not a future for offshore wind because it’s too expensive and not reliable enough.”
What’s Next for Ørsted
Ørsted is in the middle of a $9-billion right issue to strengthen its balance sheet. The company is offering a substantial discount for its shares to raise funds. So far, the drive is supported by its two biggest shareholders, the Danish government (50.1 percent) and Equinor (10 percent). Ørsted will also try to rescue its offshore wind projects in the United States, at least those that are already in operation or those which are close to completion.
Ørsted will likely choose to focus on its existing offshore wind projects in Europe and Asia. In Taiwan, Ørsted is a major player with three wind farms in operation with 1 gigawatt of capacity and two more projects under construction with 900 megawatts of capacity.
In addition to offshore wind farms, Ørsted is involved in 13 onshore wind projects in six states, including Texas (7), Illinois (2), Nebraska (2), Kansas (1) and South Dakota (1).
For now, the troubled Danish energy company will likely lower its global expansion ambitions for other offshore wind projects. “The future of Ørsted will primarily allocate capital to offshore wind in Europe,” Ørsted chair Lene Skole told shareholders, according to the Financial Times.
Will the wind ever be back in Ørsted’s sails in the future? Time will tell.