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By Stine Jacobsen and Louise Rasmussen
- Offshore wind capacity seen up 20-25% annually until 2030
- Terms of European offshore wind auctions improving, firms say
- Faster permitting, better auction designs, grid expansion needed
- Vestas Q3 operating profit 416 million euros, beats forecast
- Orsted swings to $265 million net loss in Q3
COPENHAGEN, Nov 5 (Reuters) – Denmark’s Orsted and Vestas, two of the world’s top offshore wind power groups, urged European nations on Wednesday to speed up permitting, improve auction terms and invest in power grids to deliver their potential for strong growth in the sector.
The offshore wind industry, facing a near-frozen U.S. market amid President Donald Trump’s opposition to renewables, is increasingly looking to Europe for opportunities.
Vestas (VWS.CO), the largest wind turbine maker outside China, said it expects global offshore wind capacity to grow 20-25% per year until 2030, but that Europe needs faster licensing, better auction designs and grid expansion to support a build-out.
EUROPE’S AUCTION FAILURES
Several European countries, including Denmark, Britain, Germany and the Netherlands, have failed to attract bidders in recent years when auctioning offshore wind permits, as developers balked at a lack of subsidies or revenue guarantees to offset rising costs and financing challenges.
“It is a bit sad to see that one government after another in Europe is repeating the same mistakes,” Vestas finance chief Jakob Wegge-Larsen told Reuters, referring to auctions that force developers to bear the full price risk amid rising costs.
Orsted (ORSTED.CO), the world’s biggest developer of offshore wind farms, said it was hopeful that Europe is moving in the right direction.
“We are actually seeing, market by market, that the terms of auctions are improving,” CEO Rasmus Errboe told reporters, referring to so-called contracts for difference that guarantee power prices.
TRUMP FREEZES U.S. MARKET
The confidence comes despite severe near-term pressures on the industry, with Trump seeking to halt several offshore developments and suspending new licensing, effectively freezing the U.S. market for wind power developments at sea.
Orsted swung to a third-quarter net loss of 1.70 billion Danish crowns ($265 million) from a profit of 5.17 billion crowns a year ago, hit by 1.8 billion crowns in net impairments driven by U.S. tariffs and a stop-work order on a U.S. project.
The company, whose share price was last up 0.1%, last month said it would cut a quarter of its workforce and raised close to $10 billion through a discounted rights issue to shore up its balance sheet.
Shares in Vestas were up about 13% after the company announced a new share buyback and beat third-quarter earnings forecasts, with analysts citing strong performance in its onshore business.
($1 = 6.4029 Danish crowns)
Reporting by Stine Jacobsen and Louise Rasmussen. Editing by Terje Solsvik and Mark Potter
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