The world is fully committed to green energy, and while the wind and photovoltaic industries hold promising prospects, offshore wind power is facing headwinds. Following a failed investment in the US market, Ørsted, the global leader in offshore wind power, announced a series of measures on the 7th. These include the elimination of 600 to 800 jobs, a dividend suspension from 2023 to 2025, the exit from the offshore wind power markets in Norway, Spain, and Portugal, and a temporary halt to development in Japan. S&P Global has downgraded Ørsted's long-term credit rating from BBB+ to BBB. With a promising wind power outlook, Ørsted, a leading offshore wind power company, has expanded into multiple markets, but has suffered significant losses in the US due to difficulties in its expansion. Ørsted has experienced a major setback in its US expansion efforts. With over 1,900 offshore wind turbines installed in Europe, North America, and Asia, representing 25% of the global fleet, it is the world's largest offshore wind developer. Ørsted is also involved in projects in Taiwan, including the offshore wind farm and the Greater Changhua Offshore Wind Farm. Despite its multinational presence, Ørsted has suffered a major setback in the US. In November 2023, Orsted announced that it had decided to cancel the development of Ocean Wind 1 and Ocean Wind 2 offshore wind farms in New Jersey due to inflation, interest rate hikes, and supply chain disruptions, and recorded an asset impairment of 28.4 billion kroner (US$4 billion). Upon the news, Orsted's stock price fell to a six-year low during intraday trading. In January of this year, Orsted announced again that the Skipjack offshore wind farm project in Maryland was not commercially viable and that it would seek other power contracts. On February 7, the Orsted board of directors approved a plan to reduce the company's renewable energy installations by 2030.
