Mads Nipper is to step down as chief executive officer of Danish wind developer Orsted A/S after a series of huge writedowns over the past few years on both sides of the Atlantic.
He is to be replaced by his deputy Rasmus Errboe today, the company said in a statement. Nipper led the offshore wind giant for four years, but struggled to improve its financial performance after setbacks and surging costs at several of its biggest projects.
The most recent writedown, a US$1.7 billion hit in the US earlier last month, put his tenure at risk. Future growth in the nation is also in doubt after US President Donald Trump moved to stop federal permitting and leasing areas for new offshore wind projects.
Photo: Reuters
"The renewable energy market has fundamentally changed since January 2021," Orsted chairwoman Lene Skole said in a statement.
"The impacts on our business of the increasingly challenging situation in the offshore wind industry, ranging from supply chain bottlenecks, interest rate increases, to a changing regulatory landscape, mean that our focus has shifted," Skole said.
"Therefore, the board has today agreed with Mads Nipper that it's the right time for him to step down and the board has appointed Rasmus Errboe to take over as CEO."
The firm has become symbolic of the promise and risks of offshore wind. The company constructed the world’s first offshore wind farm in Denmark in the early 1990s and has since built up a portfolio of projects around the world.
The technology had benefited for years from decreasing costs from its supply chain and rock-bottom interest rates, but disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and rising interest rates hit offshore wind developers with soaring project costs.
Orsted shares have slumped about 80 percent since reaching a peak in early 2021.
"I'm looking forward to taking the lead on the transformation necessary to navigate the headwinds that Orsted and our industry currently face," said Errboe, who was appointed deputy CEO in March last year as part of the firm's new business plan, which included trimming investment and capacity targets.
Orsted is to publish its financial results for last year on Feb. 6.
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