Ørsted will reduce its workforce roughly 25% through the end of 2027 as it wraps up construction of offshore wind farms and remakes itself as a more competitive company.
The Danish company said Oct. 9 that it expects to shrink from approximately 8,000 employees to about 6,000 in the next 27 months, starting with around 500 who will be made “redundant” before the end of 2025.
CEO Rasmus Errboe made no specific mention of Ørsted’s U.S. projects in a news release, except to say that the company is committed to finalizing its existing portfolio off the coasts of three continents.
Ørsted’s financial problems stem to a significant degree from the U.S. market, where it built an early leadership position but has been sustaining substantial cost increases and impairments for more than two years. The future is even bleaker, thanks to President Donald Trump’s open hostility to offshore wind development and his administration’s efforts to thwart it.
Errboe said Ørsted will focus on the European market and certain Asian markets in its future offshore wind development efforts. In early 2024, the company said it remained committed to U.S. operations, despite problems there. (See Ørsted Exits Offshore Wind Markets, Remains Committed to US.)
The workforce reduction will come through attrition, terminations, divestment and outsourcing. Errboe said the process will yield a company that is more financially robust, competitive, efficient and flexible — and better able to bid on new offshore wind projects that would build value for Ørsted. It is expected to yield $310 million in annual cost savings.
“We’re committed to maintaining our position as a market leader in offshore wind,” he said. “We also need to reduce our costs for developing, constructing and operating offshore wind farms to strengthen our competitiveness.”
Ørsted has the largest fleet in the offshore wind industry, and the 8.1 GW now under construction would bring its installed capacity to 18.3 GW.
The company operates the first offshore wind farm built in U.S. waters, Block Island Wind, and the first utility-scale facility, South Fork Wind. It is building Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind off New England and New York. It previously canceled its Ocean Wind project in New Jersey and paused Skipjack Wind in Maryland.
The portfolio is the largest in U.S. waters, and it ran into financial trouble well before Trump was elected to his second term, as the industry struggled with cost and supply chain challenges.
In the 11 months since the election, things have gotten even worse for Ørsted, culminating in a monthlong federal stop-work order in August against Revolution Wind, which was 80% complete at the time. (See Judge Lifts BOEM’s Stop-work Order on Revolution Wind.)
Ørsted in August announced it would raise $9.3 billion and self-finance Sunrise Wind. (See Ørsted to Raise $9.3B, Self-finance Sunrise Wind.) Its stock price cratered on the news, punctuating a yearslong slide. The share price has rebounded since then but still is only half what it was a year ago.
Errboe spoke with journalists Oct. 7, after conclusion of Ørsted’s rights issue of new shares to raise the cash. Reuters reported that he said work has fully resumed on Revolution Wind, which is expected to begin operation in the second half of 2026, and that Sunrise Wind is still targeted for commercial operation in the second half of 2027.
Ørsted has said the combined investment in Revolution and Sunrise will be approximately $15.5 billion.
