The world’s largest offshore wind farm developer has halted work on a major project in the North Sea after blaming higher costs and potential delays. Danish firm Orsted said it will stop its Hornsea 4 project, a massive planned wind farm in the North Sea that could have powered more than one million homes.
Rasmus Errboe, Orsted’s chief executive, said: “You end up in a place where we believe that the value creation was simply not there anymore on Hornsea 4 for us in its current form.” Orsted said the project had suffered rising supply chain costs, higher interest rates and increasing risk of not finishing the project on time.
It said the problems had “increased the execution risk and deteriorated the value creation of the project”.
The project was due to be completed before 2030, in time to contribute to the government’s clean energy goals, which include quadrupling offshore wind capacity on the system by the end of the decade.
Andrew Bowie MP, acting Shadow Energy Secretary, said: “Once again, the full cost of Labour’s net zero madness is on stark display.
“We have been consistently been warning this government that their mad dash to net zero is simply not sustainable – and would leave investment and industry at risk – but Keir Starmer and Ed Miliband have buried their heads in the sand, even as another key infrastructure project has pulled the plug.
“Kemi Badenoch and the Conservatives have been clear about the true costs of net zero by 2050. Will the government ever do the same?”
The Government tries to massively ramp up Britain’s renewable energy generation capacity, mainly through offshore and onshore wind and solar power.
The transition is part of its plan to decarbonise the power grid by 95% by the end of this decade.
RenewableUK’s deputy chief executive Jane Cooper said: ”Although it’s disappointing when a project is put on pause, the UK remains one of the best places in the world to build offshore wind farms, with a significant pipeline, clear ambitions for contracting large volumes through upcoming auctions and supply chain funding. The unique cost pressures faced by Hornsea 4 have led to a rethink on this particular project, and we need to do everything we can to keep a stable market for all other projects going forward.”
The Danish energy company said the move could cost it up to £513 million in break costs from cancelling contracts with suppliers.
A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “We recognise the effect that globally high inflation and supply chain constraints are having on industry across Europe, and we will work with Orsted to get Hornsea 4 back on track.
“We have a strong pipeline of projects to deliver clean power by 2030 and our mission-led approach ensures we can steer our way through global pressures and individual commercial decisions to reach our targets.”
Orsted has had a difficult few years, after high interest rates worsened the economics of developing renewable energy, and it recently replaced its former chief executive with Mr Errboe earlier in 2025.
It said in February that it would cut investment to 2030 by 25%, as part of an attempt to restore its falling share price, which has dropped more than one-third in the last year.
Meanwhile, the state-backed firm’s recent foray into the US was also delivered a significant blow when Donald Trump was elected, promising to halt green energy and refocus on fossil fuels.