European clean energy stocks fall as Trump wins the presidency
After Donald Trump's election as president of the United States on Wednesday, shares in European clean-energy groups plunged. Investors were worried about a possible dismantling by the United States of its support for renewables.
Trump pledged to cancel offshore wind projects via an executive order his first day of office, and roll back climate regulations that were implemented by President Joe Biden.
This includes withdrawing from the Paris Agreement where countries commit to limit global heating and possibly undoing Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act which provides massive incentives and subsidies to clean energy technologies.
Orsted, the world's biggest offshore wind developer, fell 10% at 1133 GMT. Wind turbine manufacturers Vestas and Nordex also traded lower by around 8% and 6 %.
Alphavalue analyst Pierre-Alexandre Ramondenc said: "The main message is that there is uncertainty back."
According to analysts at Deutsche Bank, the U.S. Renewables Market is a major growth sector for many European utility companies. This includes Portugal's EDP Renovaveis and Orsted as well as Germany's largest power producer RWE.
In a client note, Deutsche Bank stated that "A complete repeal of the IRA depends on Congress. However, significant changes may be possible."
The bank said that while projects where construction has already begun are likely to proceed, Trump's policy could delay other projects, such as offshore projects due online in 2029 or beyond.
Vestas and Orsted said that despite the uncertainty they expect the demand for green energy to continue to grow in the U.S. regardless of the winner of the presidential election.
A spokesperson said that Nordex was also optimistic about the U.S. market for onshore wind, but acknowledged possible delays in customers' decisions due to uncertainty.
RWE shares, which have wind assets as well, dropped 3.4% while EDP Renovaveis fell 7.7%.
Vestas Orsted EDP and EDP are the three biggest decliners in the pan-European STOXX 600 Index.
EDP refused to comment, while RWE didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment. (Reporting and editing by Jan Harvey, Bernadette and Stine Baum, with additional reporting from Danilo Masoni, Louis van Boxel and Louis van Boxel Wolf)
(source: Reuters)
