Orsted Ready to Abandon US Wind Projects as It Asks for Help

  • ‘We are still upholding a real option to walk away,’ CEO says
  • Danish developer’s shares have plunged about 37% this year

A wind turbine near Block Island, Rhode Island. 

Photographer: John Moore/Getty Images
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Orsted A/S said it’s prepared to walk away from US projects unless the White House guarantees more support, highlighting the myriad challenges facing wind-energy developers in the country.

The US, far behind Europe and China in the race to build offshore wind, is targeting a jump to 30 gigawatts by the end of the decade from next to nothing now. While the Biden administration has touted its landmark clean-energy subsidy program to kick-start projects, developers must ensure a large chunk of components are US-made to take full advantage of the incentives, and that’s proving hard to achieve.