Danish firm shelves huge UK windfarm project over rising costs
One of the UK's largest planned offshore windfarms has been cancelled by its developer, the Danish wind power company Ørsted, as a result of higher costs and greater risk.
The fourth phase of the huge Hornsea windfarm development, located off the Yorkshire coast, was expected to include 180 giant turbines, capable of generating the equivalent of enough green electricity to power 1m homes.
However, Ørsted's chief executive, Rasmus Errboe, said in a statement to investors it was discontinuing the development: 'The combination of increased supply chain costs, higher interest rates, and increased execution risk have deteriorated the expected value creation of the project.'
As a result, the company expects to incur breakaway costs of between 3.5bn and 4.5bn Danish kroner (£399m-£513m).
The final investment decision for the project was due later this year.
The cancellation marks the latest financial hit for Ørsted, after soaring costs forced it to scrap two major windfarm developments off the north-east coast of the US in late 2023, at a cost of £3bn, cutting hundreds of jobs.
The company, which is majority owned by the Danish government, has previously reined in other plans to expand its offshore wind business amid rising costs facing the global wind power industry.
Developers have been facing increased costs, which were triggered by higher inflation and interest rates, combined with problems in the global offshore wind supply chain.
Ørsted said on Wednesday that the wind industry remained 'challenged in the short-term with headwinds relating to supply chain, regulatory, and macroeconomic developments'.
Since taking office in January, the US president, Donald Trump, has expressed strong opposition to offshore wind.
However, Ørsted said the long-term outlook for offshore was 'strong due to the increasing global electricity demand, a strengthened focus on energy security and affordability through renewables, and improved framework conditions in several major markets'.
The Hornsea 4 project received the green light from the last government in July 2023. With a capacity of 2.6GW, it was the second-largest windfarm to receive government approval, after the Hornsea 3 project, which has a 2.8GW capacity and is expected to be completed in 2027. skip past newsletter promotion
Sign up to Business Today
Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
after newsletter promotion
The first two phases of the Hornsea development are already operational.
Ørsted's latest project cancellation comes after a turbulent time for the company, which resulted in it implementing a restructuring plan in 2024, while it cancelled dividend payouts to shareholders for the 2023-25 financial years in an attempt to bolster its finances. Its market value has plunged by about 80% since its peak in 2021.
The Hornsea 4 cancellation came as the company reported a first-quarter operating profit that was above expectations.
At the time of its construction, Hornsea 2 was the world's highest-capacity offshore windfarm. It generates enough energy to power more than 1.4m homes, and covers an area of 178 square miles.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
28 minutes ago
- The Sun
Anti-EU football hooligan ‘pimp' Karol Nawrocki wins Poland's presidential election after knife-edge vote
ANTI-EU football hooligan "pimp" Karol Nawrocki has won Poland's presidential election. According to the final result from the electoral commission, right-wing historian with a past of football hooliganism Nawrocki, 42, won the election with a slim 50.89% of the votes. 2 Just six months ago, Nawrocki was a fairly unknown name - but in the run up to the election, the historian posted videos of himself at shooting ranges and boxing rings - cultivating a tough-guy image for voters. While his liberal opponent Rafal Trzaskowski played up his European credentials, Nawrocki met Donald Trump at the White House and received the US President's backing. Unlike other eurosceptics in central Europe like Hungary's Viktor Orban, Nawrocki supports giving military aid to help Ukraine in the bloody war with Russia. But he also revealed prior to his win that he will oppose membership in Western alliances for Ukraine. This view aligns with the falling support among Poles for Ukrainians, with the country having hosted more than a million refugees from across the border. His backers in the Law and Justice (PiS) party had supported fast-tracking membership in the EU and NATO for Kyiv while in power until late 2023. Nawrocki's critics said he was fuelling unease over Ukrainian refugees at a time when the far-right is highlighting migration, the cost of living and security. He cited his campaign slogan, Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April. Nawrocki's past has been a topic of intense public debate following a series of negative media coverage. Robert Prevost elected as Pope Leo XIV - the first from North American There were questions over his acquisition of a flat from a pensioner -and even an admission that he took part in orchestrated brawls. Nawrocki, an amateur boxer, told a debate when confronted over reports he had been involved in mass organised fights between football hooligans: "All my sports activities were based on the strength of my heart, the strength of my muscles, my fists. "It was a fair competition, regardless of the form." His Law and Justice party backers have accused the government of orchestrating the controversies with the help of Poland's special services and liberal media. Nawrocki portrayed the election as a referendum on the government, which he described as a metropolitan elite out of touch with their concerns. "I am simply one of you," he told voters in the eastern town of Biala Podlaska while on the campaign trail. .
The Guardian
35 minutes ago
- The Guardian
China accuses US of ‘seriously violating' trade war truce
Update: Date: 2025-06-02T06:36:56.000Z Title: Introduction: China accuses US of 'seriously violating' trade truce Content: Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy. Trade war tensions are on the rise again, as relations between China and the US deteriorate. Beijing has hit back this morning against Washington, accusing the US of 'seriously violating' the trade truce which the two powers agreed in Zurich last month. China's commerce ministry also promised to take forceful measures to safeguard its interests, rejecting a claim from Donald Trump last week that China has 'totally violated' its trade agreement with the US. In a statement, the ministry said: 'The U.S. government has unilaterally and repeatedly provoked new economic and trade frictions, exacerbating uncertainty and instability in bilateral economic and trade relations.' Beijing accused the US of unilaterally introducing new discriminatory restrictions, including new guidelines on AI chip export controls, curbs on chip design software sales to China and the revocation of Chinese student visas, Bloomberg reports. Stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region have dropped today, as investors fret that the détente between the two sides is fraying. Last Friday, the US president – perhaps stung by jibes that Trump Always Chickens Out – declared that China 'HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US.', raising fears that the trade war will continue to rattle the global economy. This latest uncertainty is hurting the US dollar. It has slipped against a basket of currencies, with the pound up almost half a cent at $1.35, and the euro gaining a third of a cent to $1.138. The legality of Trump's trade war was also thown into doubt last week, when a US federal court ruled that his 'liberation day' tariff plan is illegal, only for a federal appeals court to temporarily reinstate the tariffs while the case progresses. 9am BST: Eurozone manufacturing PMI for May 9.30am BST: UK manufacturing PMI for May 9.30am BST: Bank of England mortgage approvals and credit conditions data 3pm BST: US manufacturing PMI for May
Reuters
40 minutes ago
- Reuters
Who is Poland's next president Karol Nawrocki?
WARSAW, June 2 (Reuters) - Karol Nawrocki, the conservative historian who won Poland's presidential election, cultivated a tough-guy image during his campaign, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and boxing rings. While his liberal opponent Rafal Trzaskowski played up his European credentials, Nawrocki met Donald Trump at the White House and received the U.S. president's backing for his bid for Poland's top job. According to the final result from the electoral commission, Nawrocki won the election with 50.89% of the votes. Unlike other eurosceptics in central Europe, such as Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico or Hungary's Viktor Orban, Nawrocki supports giving military aid to help Ukraine fend off Russia's three-year-old invasion. But he has said that, if elected, he will oppose membership in Western alliances for Ukraine, a position that seeks to chime with falling support for Ukrainians among Poles, who have hosted more than a million refugees from across the border. His backers in the Law and Justice (PiS) party had supported fast-tracking membership in the EU and NATO for Kyiv while in power until late 2023. Nawrocki's critics said he was fuelling unease over Ukrainian refugees at a time when the far-right is highlighting migration, the cost of living and security. He cited his campaign slogan, Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April. He is likely to follow a similar path to outgoing President Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally who has used his veto power to block the pro-EU government's efforts to undo the previous PiS administration's judicial reforms. The EU says the PiS reforms undermined the independence of the courts. In the last two weeks, the candidates mostly fought for the support of people who voted for other candidates in the first round, in particular far-right's Slawomir Mentzen who came third with 15% support. Trzaskowski tried to attract them with promises of deregulation. Nawrocki touted his credentials as head of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), support for gun ownership, traditional families and Christian values, but also a critical tone on Ukraine, in sync with Mentzen's. His wife Marta, a civil servant, and three children featured strongly in his campaign. Nawrocki's past has been a topic of intense public debate following a series of negative media reports. There were questions over his acquisition of a flat from a pensioner and an admission that he took part in orchestrated brawls. "All my sports activities were based on the strength of my heart, the strength of my muscles, my fists," Nawrocki, an amateur boxer, told a debate when confronted over reports he had been involved in mass organised fights between football hooligans. "It was a fair competition, regardless of the form." His Law and Justice party backers have accused the government of orchestrating the controversies with the help of Poland's special services and liberal media. The government rejects these accusations. Nawrocki portrayed the election as a referendum on the government, which he described as a metropolitan elite out of touch with their concerns. "I am simply one of you," he told voters in the eastern town of Biala Podlaska while on the campaign trail.
