The Danish wind power developer Ørsted A/S (OTC: DNNGY) is threatening to jettison its American projects ”“ including the Revolution Wind development that is slated to become the first offshore wind energy source for Connecticut ”“ unless the Biden administration guarantees more support for its efforts.
“We are still upholding a real option to walk away,” Ørsted CEO Mads Nipper said in a Bloomberg interview in London. “But right now, we are still working towards a final investment decision” on projects in America.
Ørsted has been plagued with supply chain problems, rising material costs and elevated interest rates on its U.S. operations, and Nipper said his company could not have predicted the tumult currently facing the wind energy industry. Ørsted lost $8 billion in value last week following an investor selloff ”“ Nipper claimed he still has the support of the company”™s board of directors despite the decline in the company”™s stock price.
Nipper cited U.S. subsidy rules ”“ the federal government insists on domestically produced steel to be used by companies seeking tax credits ”“ as creating a new obstacle for Ørsted. Nipper asked the Biden administration to guarantee subsidies without having the domestic steel requirement at first, and he also requested more time to overcome the problems in sourcing American-made material.
“What we proposed was a grace period, say, so give us three to five years,” the CEO said. “Right now, it can”™t deliver.”
Good, let him walk away. Wind farms are destroying the natural ocean and killing marine life