Windfall: Equinor to invest $1bn in ailing renewables company

Equinor, a Norwegian oil and gas group, is set to invest $1bn more into Ørsted, a Danish renewables company, in order to maintain its 10% stake as Ørsted plans to issue $9.4 bn worth of shares in an effort to raise capital.

This comes even as Equinor’s initial $2.5bn investment lost approximately half of its value amid Trump’s attack on the wind industry.

Source: Google Finance

The Trump administration has expressed significant hostility to wind power, taking action to prevent the progression of wind projects. 

Unfortunately for Ørsted, this included their 80% complete ‘Revolution Wind’ project off the coast of Rhode Island.

Despite this, Equinor appears to remain committed to Ørsted and renewables more widely, stating the following on Monday:

“In response to the challenges facing offshore wind, the industry will see consolidation and new business models [...] Equinor believes that a closer industrial and strategic collaboration between Ørsted and Equinor can create value for all shareholders in both companies.”