Denmark's Orsted anticipates $730 mln impact on US portfolio - Reuters.com
Orsted plunges 20% on risk of $2.3 bln in U.S. impairments | Reuters
Orsted plunges 20% on risk of $2.3 bln in U.S. impairments
General view of the Walney Extension offshore wind farm operated by Orsted off the coast of Blackpool, Britain, September 5, 2018. REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
OSLO, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Denmark's Orsted (ORSTED.CO), the world's largest offshore wind farm developer, said on Wednesday it may see U.S. impairments of 16 billion Danish crowns ($2.3 billion) due to supply chain problems, soaring interest rates and a lack of new tax credits.
Orsted's share price tumbled 20% to its lowest level in more than four years and is down almost 70% from its 2021 peak.
"The situation in U.S. offshore wind is severe," Chief Executive Mads Nipper told reporters on a conference call.
The company's Ocean Wind 1, Sunrise Wind, and Revolution Wind projects are adversely impacted by several supplier delays, which may trigger impairments of up to 5 billion crowns, the company said in a statement.
Orsted said the company's discussions with "senior federal stakeholders" on obtaining more U.S. tax credits for its offshore wind projects had not progressed as expected, which in turn could lead to impairments of another 6 billion crowns.
On top of this, the increase in long-dated interest rates in the United States affected both offshore as well as some onshore wind projects and will cause impairments of around 5 billion crowns, Orsted said.
"Today's announcement flags risks in the U.S. portfolio and does not do anything to improve the downbeat investor sentiment on the stock," analysts at Bernstein said in a note to clients.
Orsted bought its remaining stake in Ocean Wind 1, the 1.1 gigawatt wind power project off the coast of New Jersey, from Public Service Enterprise Group (PEG.N) earlier this year.
The company on Wednesday said it does not expect the anticipated impact to change its previously announced EBITDA guidance for the year.
The U.S. government has set a national goal to develop 30 gigawatt of offshore wind by 2030.
($1 = 6.8589 Danish crowns)
Reporting by Terje Solsvik in Oslo and Gursimran Kaur in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Nora Buli in Oslo; Editing by Andy Sullivan and Conor Humphries
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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