Danish firm has been shoring up the business and will now focus on its development plans in Europe
The White House recently ordered Orsted to cease work on a nearly complete $1.5bn (€1.3bn) windfarm project off the coast of Rhode Island.
Orsted, which is 51pc-owned by the Danish state, was forced to raise €8bn in a hugely discounted rights issue in order to shore up its balance sheet.
The company has a partnership with the ESB to develop offshore wind projects around Ireland.
The layoffs at Orsted will be completed by 2027. The company said it’s initiating the mass redundancies because it will be intensifying its focus on the development of offshore wind and on operations in Europe. It added that it also needs to improve its competitiveness.
“This is a necessary consequence of our decision to focus our business and the fact that we’ll be finalising our large construction portfolio in the coming years – which is why we’ll need fewer employees,” said Orsted CEO Rasmus Errboe.
“At the same time, we want to create a more efficient and flexible organisation and a more competitive Orsted, ready to bid on new value-accretive offshore wind projects.”
The company said the reduction in headcount will be achieved through natural attrition, a reduction of positions, divestment, outsourcing and redundancies. It said 500 of its staff will be let go by the end of this year, including 235 in Denmark.
“We’re fully committed to finalising our 8.1GW construction portfolio across three continents,” said Mr Errboe.
“At the same time, we’re building a more financially robust and competitive company with solid earnings, which will increase as we complete our projects. Once we’ve achieved this, Orsted will be a significantly stronger, more focused and competitive company.”
The ESB said last month that it’s confident Orsted can fulfil its obligations under a partnership agreement the pair have to develop offshore windfarms around Ireland.
ESB chief financial officer Paul Stapleton said the two companies are working on finalising their bid for the 900MW Tonn Nua development that is being auctioned by the Government in November. It will likely cost significantly more than €2bn to develop.
“We expect, in conjunction with Orsted, to put in a competitive offer into that auction process,” Mr Stapleton said.
Orsted signed a partnership with the ESB in 2023. The partnership is billed to have the potential to deliver up to 5GW of offshore renewable energy and complementary renewable hydrogen projects in Ireland.
Last month, Orsted secured a 109MW solar contract in the Irish Government’s fifth onshore Renewable Electricity Support Scheme auction. The approved project is a solar development in Lodgewood, Co Wexford.
Orsted has a strong presence in solar technology across Ireland, with projects under construction in Garreenleen in Co Carlow and Ballinrea, Co Cork. Both are expected to be fully operational by 2026.
It also has 20 operational wind developments across the island of Ireland.
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