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World’s largest offshore wind developer completes roughly DKK 60 billion rights issue as strategic focus returns to Europe

At the ONS energy conference in Norway, Rasmus Errboe, chief executive of Danish energy group Ørsted — the world’s largest offshore wind developer — said that offshore wind development costs have stabilized and that the industry has reached a turning point. The move caps a sweeping restructuring that the company, once brought to the brink of heavy losses by runaway costs, carried out over the past two years through job cuts, a capital raise, and the disposal of non-core assets.

The Darkest Hour: Runaway Costs Meet a US Setback

Ørsted, which transformed from a Danish oil and gas producer, is the world’s most deeply positioned developer of fixed-bottom offshore wind. Between 2022 and 2023, surging prices for raw materials such as steel and copper, higher financing costs on capital-heavy projects driven by successive interest-rate hikes from US and European central banks, and strained supply chains all combined to push construction costs on its projects sharply over budget.

In November 2023, Ørsted abandoned its Ocean Wind 1 and Ocean Wind 2 projects off New Jersey, taking roughly $4 billion in asset impairments for the first three quarters of 2023 — a landmark moment in its financial crisis.

The US regulatory environment deteriorated further in 2025. Amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on wind projects, a federal order halted Ørsted’s offshore wind project off Rhode Island, which was more than 80 percent complete. The company subsequently suspended parts of its asset-divestiture and financing plans. In February of the same year, it replaced its leadership: former chief executive Mads Nipper stepped down and was succeeded by Rasmus Errboe.

Three-Pronged Restructuring: Job Cuts, Capital Raise, Divestitures

Errboe pursued three main lines of action to repair the balance sheet.

First, workforce reduction. In October 2025, Ørsted announced plans to cut about 2,000 jobs — roughly a quarter of its global workforce — by 2027, bringing headcount from about 8,000 down to 6,000.

Second, capital replenishment. In August 2025, the company announced a rights issue to raise DKK 60 billion (about $9.4 billion), fully underwritten by Morgan Stanley. The Danish state subscribed to maintain its controlling stake of about 50.1 percent, while second-largest shareholder Equinor subscribed up to DKK 6 billion to hold on to its roughly 10 percent stake.

Third, divestiture of non-core assets. In November 2025, Ørsted sold a 50 percent stake in the UK’s Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm to private equity firm Apollo Global Management for $6.5 billion. In 2026, it sold its European onshore renewables business — covering roughly 578 MW of operational projects and 248 MW under construction across Ireland, the UK, Germany, and Spain — to Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners for €1.44 billion. The company is also weighing the sale of its onshore renewables assets in the United States, a deal that could exceed $1 billion.

Strategic Pivot: Fixed-Bottom Offshore Wind Only

The core logic of the restructuring is retrenchment. Ørsted has made clear that it will focus exclusively on fixed-bottom offshore wind going forward, shifting its center of gravity from North America back to Europe. The company reports that around 90 percent of its offshore wind assets are now located in Europe.

Signs of the Turning Point: Costs, Policy, and Capital

Errboe’s case for an industry inflection rests on three pillars. First, the peak of inflation has passed and supply chains are recovering, making project return expectations predictable once again. Second, policy support continues to build: the EU has set targets of 60 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 and 300 GW by 2050, and Denmark, the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands plan to launch a new round of offshore wind tenders within the coming year. Third, state backing has lowered financing costs: the Danish government retains control, and strategic shareholders including Equinor continue to increase their stakes.

Outlook and Risks

Analysts believe Ørsted’s recovery path reflects a European offshore wind industry emerging from a squeeze of both costs and policy — but the risks have not disappeared. On one hand, regulatory uncertainty in the US persists and could continue to erode the company’s overseas projects. On the other, a gap remains between Europe’s domestic supply-chain capacity and its construction targets. Whether the industry delivers on the promised “turning point” will ultimately depend on the winning bid prices in the next round of tenders and the pace of actual construction.