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The world’s largest wind power developer has warned of falling profits after an unusually warm and windless British summer cut energy output.
Danish energy firm Orsted, which operates 12 wind farms across the UK supplying around 7 percent of the nation’s electricity, said calmer conditions had dragged down performance. The company now expects annual earnings of between £2.8 billion and £3.1 billion, down from earlier projections of £2.9 billion to £3.25 billion. The drop, it said, was “primarily driven” by weaker offshore winds at sites including Hornsea 2, the world’s biggest offshore wind farm off the Yorkshire coast.
The warning adds to mounting concerns about Britain’s energy strategy, coming just a week after Ed Miliband’s Net Zero programme was accused of driving up household bills. Energy regulator Ofgem revealed that “policy costs” introduced by the energy secretary had helped push the price cap up at twice the pace expected, leaving millions facing higher winter energy charges. Consumers are being forced to cover the cost of turning off turbines during periods of overproduction while also funding gas plants that must be activated when the wind fails to blow.
Ben Yearsley, investment consultant at Fairview Investing, said Orsted had endured a difficult run: “They once aspired to be the world’s first renewable energy supermajor, but in recent years they seem to have lurched from one calamity to the next.”
The company recently secured investor backing for nearly £7 billion to support its US expansion, but those plans have been thrown into doubt amid fierce opposition from Donald Trump. The former US president has repeatedly attacked wind power, calling it “very expensive” and “very ugly,” and his administration last month halted one of Orsted’s offshore projects. In response, the firm announced it would take legal action in an attempt to restart work.
Trump has also accused Miliband’s Net Zero push of driving UK electricity prices “through the roof.” Shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho echoed the criticism, saying: “Ed promised to cut everyone’s bills by £300, but costs are already £200 higher than when he came in. His expensive, unreliable system means they will only keep rising. Cheap, dependable energy must come first.”
Orsted’s warning follows similar complaints from German energy giant RWE, which last month blamed “unfavourable wind conditions” for weaker profits and surging wholesale electricity prices across Europe.
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