Orsted CEO steps down after failing to turn around wind firm

Mads Nipper Photographer: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg

Mads Nipper will step down as chief executive officer of Danish wind developer Orsted after a series of huge writedowns over the past few years on both sides of the Atlantic.

He will be replaced by his deputy Rasmus Errboe on Saturday, 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.

In Ireland, Orsted is headquartered in Cork city where it employs more than 100 people.

The company's most recent writedown, a $1.7bn hit in the US earlier this month, put his tenure at risk. Future growth in the nation is also in doubt after President Donald Trump moved to stop federal permitting and leasing areas for new offshore wind projects.

“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,” said Lene Skole, chair of Orsted’s board of directors.

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 pandemic and rising interest rates hit offshore wind developers with soaring project costs.

Orsted shares have slumped about 80% since reaching a peak in early 2021. They traded little changed in Copenhagen early Friday and are down 18% this year alone.

The firm will publish its 2024 results on February 6.

“The company continues to experience material challenges in its US operations and it will be interesting to get the thoughts of the new CEO at year-end results,” analysts at RBC Europe said in a note.

Bloomberg.