Equinor ASA acquired a US$2.5 billion stake in Danish wind energy giant Orsted A/S, pairing one of the Nordic region’s biggest fossil fuel companies with its largest renewable power developer.
The deal with Equinor marks one of the most prominent endorsements of the beleaguered offshore wind industry in years, just as falling interest rates and easing supply chain bottlenecks brighten the outlook for renewable technology key to Europe’s climate goals.
The transaction comes at a critical time for the giant wind developer as Orsted chief executive officer Mads Nipper tries to execute a turnaround plan after the company recorded billions of dollars of write-downs last year due to troubles with offshore wind farms in the US.
Photo: Tom Little, Reuters
“The offshore wind industry is currently facing a set of challenges, but we remain confident in the long-term outlook for the sector, and the crucial role offshore wind will play in the energy transition,” Equinor chief executive officer Anders Opedal said in a statement.
The deal gives Equinor a nearly 10 percent stake in Orsted, making it the second largest shareholder after the Danish government, according to a statement. Equinor doesn’t intend to increase its shareholding any further for now, won’t seek board seats and says it’s supportive of Orsted’s strategy and management.
For Equinor, it’s a simple way to boost its renewable power portfolio. The company has a target of 12 to 16 gigawatts of green power capacity by 2030.
“Equinor gets access to net 1 gigawatt in operating assets for US$2.5 billion, which is similar to the cost of building offshore wind projects – without the risk on construction and delivery, as well as supply chains,” RBC Europe Ltd energy research head Biraj Borkhataria said.
Orsted is trying to claw its way back to growth. Shares soared during the COVID-19 pandemic as rock-bottom interest rates and a frenzy of green investing pushed its market value to nearly US$94 billion in early 2021, just as Nipper took over as CEO. When borrowing costs soared, projects that Orsted was planning to develop looked more expensive forcing the company to write down and exit several sites in the US.
The company canceled two major American projects and fired top executives. Investors fled, sending the company’s shares down so low that Orsted was at one point worth less than the sum of its operating wind farms.
Nipper responded in February with a turnaround plan that axed the company’s dividend, laid off staff and cut its plans to grow this decade. The company has gradually regained value this year, though it’s still worth far less than before the crisis last year.
Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday introduced the company’s latest supercomputer platform, featuring six new chips made by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), saying that it is now “in full production.” “If Vera Rubin is going to be in time for this year, it must be in production by now, and so, today I can tell you that Vera Rubin is in full production,” Huang said during his keynote speech at CES in Las Vegas. The rollout of six concurrent chips for Vera Rubin — the company’s next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) computing platform — marks a strategic
REVENUE PERFORMANCE: Cloud and network products, and electronic components saw strong increases, while smart consumer electronics and computing products fell Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday posted 26.51 percent quarterly growth in revenue for last quarter to NT$2.6 trillion (US$82.44 billion), the strongest on record for the period and above expectations, but the company forecast a slight revenue dip this quarter due to seasonal factors. On an annual basis, revenue last quarter grew 22.07 percent, the company said. Analysts on average estimated about NT$2.4 trillion increase. Hon Hai, which assembles servers for Nvidia Corp and iPhones for Apple Inc, is expanding its capacity in the US, adding artificial intelligence (AI) server production in Wisconsin and Texas, where it operates established campuses. This
US President Donald Trump on Friday blocked US photonics firm HieFo Corp’s US$3 million acquisition of assets in New Jersey-based aerospace and defense specialist Emcore Corp, citing national security and China-related concerns. In an order released by the White House, Trump said HieFo was “controlled by a citizen of the People’s Republic of China” and that its 2024 acquisition of Emcore’s businesses led the US president to believe that it might “take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States.” The order did not name the person or detail Trump’s concerns. “The Transaction is hereby prohibited,”
Garment maker Makalot Industrial Co (聚陽) yesterday reported lower-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue of NT$7.93 billion (US$251.44 million), down 9.48 percent from NT$8.76 billion a year earlier. On a quarterly basis, revenue fell 10.83 percent from NT$8.89 billion, company data showed. The figure was also lower than market expectations of NT$8.05 billion, according to data compiled by Yuanta Securities Investment and Consulting Co (元大投顧), which had projected NT$8.22 billion. Makalot’s revenue this quarter would likely increase by a mid-teens percentage as the industry is entering its high season, Yuanta said. Overall, Makalot’s revenue last year totaled NT$34.43 billion, down 3.08 percent from its record NT$35.52
RSS