Orsted, the world’s biggest offshore wind project developer, is replacing Mads Nipper as chief executive, effective Saturday, amid a fundamentally changed renewable energy market, the Danish renewable energy firm said on Friday.
Nipper, who joined Orsted in January 2021, is stepping down as CEO on February 1, 2025, at which time Rasmus Errboe will step into the role of Group President and CEO. Errboe comes from within the company—he is currently deputy CEO and chief commercial officer.
“The renewable energy market has fundamentally changed since January 2021. The impacts on our business of the increasingly challenging situation in the offshore wind industry, ranging from supply chain bottlenecks, and interest rate increases, to a changing regulatory landscape, mean that our focus has shifted,” Lene Skole, Chair of Ørsted’s Board of Directors, said in a statement.
“Therefore, the board has today agreed with Mads Nipper that it’s the right time for him to step down and the board has appointed Rasmus Errboe to take over as CEO.”
Orsted and other renewable energy companies have seen mounting challenges in the wind power market since 2021 when their share prices and market valuations jumped to records.
Soaring interest rates, supply chain bottlenecks, cost inflation, and regulatory uncertainty in key markets – most of all the U.S. – have weighed on the prospects of the offshore wind sector.
Incoming CEO Errboe commented, “I’m looking forward to taking the lead on the transformation necessary to navigate the headwinds that Ørsted and our industry currently face.”
Shares in Orsted have slumped by more than 80% compared to their 2021 peak and have lost 29% over the past year.
On the day after President Trump axed offshore wind on his first day in office, Orsted announced more than $1 billion in impairment charges at its U.S. business, sending shares plunging by 18% in Copenhagen, the most since November 2023.