Hit by lower wind speeds, cable problems Shares fall almost 4% (Adds details, CFO comments, updated share reaction)
COPENHAGEN, April 29 (Reuters) - Lower wind speeds and cable problems hit first-quarter earnings at Denmark’s Orsted , sending shares in the world’s biggest offshore wind farm developer lower on Thursday.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) came in at 4.9 billion Danish crowns ($799 million), missing analysts’ consensus forecast of 5.2 billion crowns.
However, Chief Executive Mads Nipper said the company’s operational performance “was good during Q1 2021 and slightly exceeded our expectations”.
Nipper took the helm in January. His predecessor, Henrik Poulsen, stepped down after leading the energy company’s transformation away from fossil fuels.
(Bloomberg) Building power plants in the middle of the sea was never going to be easy.
The world’s largest developer of offshore wind farms Orsted A/S has found that some of its cables connecting to wind farms have been damaged by scraping against rocks on the seabed and will need to spend as much as 3 billion Danish kroner ($489 million) to fix them. It’s part of the growing pains for the offshore wind industry that’s become one of the fastest-growing sources of electricity.
Offshore wind farms involve a network of turbines with cables that connect to shore and into the power grid. The open seas provide stronger and more consistent wind speeds than on land.
Last modified on Fri 30 Apr 2021 07.07 EDT
The Danish wind power firm Ãrsted has warned that up to 10 of its giant offshore windfarms around the UK and Europe will need urgent repairs because their subsea cables have been eroded by rocks on the seabed.
The renewables firm, which is behind plans to build one of the worldâs largest offshore windfarms off the coast of Grimsby, told investors it might need to spend up to DKK3bn (£350m) over the next two years to repair the cables.
Ãrsted has found that the rocks placed at the base of the wind turbine foundations to prevent the erosion of the seabed were responsible for wearing down the cable protection system which, in a worst case scenario, could cause the cables to fail.
How Ørsted plans to solve offshore wind cable challenge
Danish developer reports erosion and risk of cable failures due to cable protection system that was previously the “industry standard”
by Craig Richard
Ørsted CFO Marianne Wiinholt explained how the developer plans to better protect offshore wind cable protection systems in a conference call
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