Orsted shares jump as US court lifts Trump block on wind project

By Stine Jacobsen

COPENHAGEN, Jan 13 (Reuters) – Orsted shares jumped 6% on Tuesday after a U.S. court cleared the Danish offshore wind developer to resume work on its nearly completed Revolution Wind project, easing fears of multibillion-dollar losses.

The ruling comes after repeated disruptions to offshore wind projects under U.S. President Donald Trump, who has criticised wind turbines as ugly, costly and inefficient.

Orsted’s lawsuit is among several filed by offshore wind companies and states seeking to overturn the Interior Department’s December 22 suspension of five offshore wind leases over what it said were national security concerns.

RESUMING WORK AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

Revolution Wind, built with Siemens Gamesa turbines, is designed with a capacity to deliver 704 megawatts of electricity to Rhode Island and Connecticut.

“Now our focus is on safely resuming construction work as soon as possible and moving towards delivering reliable and affordable electricity to 350,000 homes,” Orsted CEO Rasmus Errboe said in a statement late on Monday following the ruling.

The suspension has also hit Orsted’s Sunrise Wind project, Equinor’s Empire Wind near New York and Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind facility. Shares in Equinor were up 3% at 0925 GMT.

An Equinor spokesperson said the Norwegian company took note of the Orsted ruling and was awaiting the outcome of a court decision expected for Empire Wind later this week.

Equinor’s 810 MW project was more than 60% complete when halted in late December, and the company has said that any delay beyond January 16 would likely result in the termination of the project and incur a financial loss of $5.3 billion.

The Orsted decision echoes a September court victory when a judge rejected the administration’s first attempt to halt the project. Both suspensions cited national security concerns that judges found insufficient to justify the disruption.

The ruling sharply reduces the risk of Revolution Wind being cancelled, which would have caused losses of about 20 billion Danish crowns ($3.12 billion), according to Sydbank analyst Jacob Pedersen.

Analysts said the decision raised hopes for a similar outcome on Orsted’s larger Sunrise Wind project, with JP Morgan noting investors were likely already pricing in a favourable ruling.

CREDIT RISKS AND POLITICAL HEADWINDS

Orsted, already contending with inflation, higher interest rates and supply chain delays, raised $9.4 billion in a rights issue last autumn to protect liquidity and try to avoid further credit rating downgrades. It has struggled to attract co-investors, particularly for Sunrise Wind, amid resistance from the Trump administration.

S&P Global downgraded the company to BBB, the lowest investment-grade rating, in August.

On Monday, Moody’s cut its outlook on the company to negative from stable, citing heightened risk that political opposition in the U.S. could delay or derail offshore wind projects such as Sunrise Wind.

A further downgrade would push up borrowing costs and hit earnings, analysts warned.

($1 = 6.4073 Danish crowns)

(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen. Editing by Louise Heavens and Mark Potter)