US offshore wind woes massively drag down Equinor results
Regulatory chaos in offshore wind unleashed by US President Donald Trump leads to nearly $1bn in impairments in second quarter
Impairments of almost $1bn related to the regulatory chaos surrounding offshore wind in the US unleashed by President Donald Trump dragged down second quarter results at Equinor.
The Norwegian oil & gas giant had to book $955m in impairments in the second quarter of 2025 due to “regulatory changes causing loss of synergies from future offshore wind projects and increased exposure to tariffs”.
Of that amount, $763m were related to the combined Empire Wind 1/South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) project under construction and $192m to the undeveloped Empire Wind 2 lease.
the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) was supposed to serve as the flagship marshalling port for New York’s mandated 9GW offshore wind development, but with most of the offshore developments halted now, the massive cost for its construction seems less justified.
CEO Anders Opedal nevertheless tried to stress positives in the otherwise bleak renewables result.
“We continue to progress our portfolio in renewables, and the Empire Wind 1 project development is back in execution,” Opedal said.
“We have reached financial close for the Bałtyk 2 & 3 offshore wind projects in Poland at favourable terms, contributing to strong returns.”
Still, Equinor’s net operating loss in its renewables business soared to $1.00bn, from a net operating loss of $259m in the year-ago quarter.
That also dragged down overall results at the oil & gas giant, with net income for the whole company falling 30% to $1.3bn.
Despite the regulatory setbacks, Equinor said that the construction activities for both onshore SBMT and offshore Empire Wind 1 are progressing according to plan, and the project aims to execute planned activities in the offshore installation window in 2025 and reach its planned commercial operation date in 2027.
Renewable power generation rose by 26% to 0.83TWh in the second quarter of 2025 from the year-earlier period, as the ramp-up of production from the Dogger Bank A offshore wind farm in the UK and a new onshore acquisition in Sweden offset a decline in power generation from certain offshore wind assets due to unfavourable wind conditions.
(Copyright)