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By Anastasiia Kozlova
(Reuters) -Nordex expects the U.S. to remain an “important and large enough market” for onshore wind energy in the medium term, it said on Thursday, despite fears that Donald Trump could scrap renewable energy projects upon his return to the White House.
“We expect the fundamental growth drivers for onshore wind to remain intact over the long term as current developments, such as the boom in artificial intelligence, are expected to further increase demand for energy,” the German wind turbine maker told Reuters when asked about the election result.
The United States is currently the biggest onshore wind market outside of China, it said.
Before being re-elected, Trump vowed to scrap offshore wind projects through an executive order on his first day in office, claiming windmills ruin the environment and kill birds and whales.
The order would also include leaving the Paris Agreement, under which countries pledge to limit global warming, and potentially undoing Joe Biden’s flagship Inflation Reduction Act that provides massive subsidies and incentives to clean energy technologies.
Nordex’s shares fell on Wednesday alongside other renewable energy stocks following Trump’s victory, and closed the session 7.5% lower.
The company had in July said it had “successfully consolidated its market position” in Europe, accounting for 80% of its sales, and would now be focusing on growing its North American business.
Nordex, which competes with GE and Siemens Energy in the onshore wind turbine market, reported a third-quarter core profit, or EBITDA, of 71.5 million euros ($76.8 million) on Thursday, up 33% from a year earlier.
It also said its full-year core profit margin would come at the top end of its earlier 3-4% forecast range, sending its shares higher in early Frankfurt trading.
However, they quickly reversed course to fall more than 4%, before flattening by midday local time.
($1 = 0.9308 euros)
(Reporting by Anastasiia Kozlova in Gdansk; editing by Milla Nissi)
