European wind power stocks fell after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said he would try to ensure that “no windmills” are built on his watch, criticising the sector before he is due to take office.
Shares in the world’s two biggest offshore wind farm developers – Denmark’s Orsted and Germany’s RWE – as well as turbine makers Siemens Energy , Nordex and Vestas all fell after Trump’s comments.
“It’s the most expensive energy there is. It’s many, many times more expensive than clean natural gas so we’re going to try and have a policy where no windmills are being built,” Trump said of wind energy at a press conference at his Florida resort, calling wind turbines a disaster, Reuters reported.
“They litter our country, they’re littered all over our country like dropping paper, like dropping garbage in a field … They’re rusting, rotting, closed, falling down … And they put new ones next to them because nobody wants to take them down, because why should they take them down? It’s very expensive to take them down.”
Trump demands end to North Sea ‘windmills’
Donald Trump has also called for the North Sea to be “opened up” as he again attacked offshore windfarm developments.
Trump warned the UK was making a “very big mistake” after an American oil firm announced it would end its operations in the North Sea by 2029. Texan energy giant Apache claimed its British interests had become “uneconomic” as a result of windfall taxes on energy profits imposed by the UK Government, the Daily Record reported. The company took control of the Forties field in 2003 but suspended all new drilling activity in 2024.
Responding to the announcement, Trump said in a post on social media: “The UK is making a very big mistake. Open up the North Sea. Get rid of Windmills!”
In October 2024, the UK government said it would increase a windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas producers to 38% from 35% and extend the levy by one year. The government wants to use the revenue from oil and gas to raise funds for renewable energy projects.