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Mads Nipper to step down as CEO

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Deputy CEO Errboe takes the helm with immediate effect

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Shares are down 83% from 2021 peak

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Orsted has been hit by soaring costs and impairments

(Rewrites with more quotes, analyst, background, updates

shares)

By Stine Jacobsen and Isabelle Yr Carlsson

COPENHAGEN, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Orsted Chief

Executive Mads Nipper will step down to be replaced by company

insider Rasmus Errboe, the world's biggest offshore wind

developer said on Friday, as it seeks to arrest an 83% slump in

its share price since its 2021 peak.

The Danish renewables firm has been crucial to establishing

a European industry for wind at sea, but the industry has

struggled in recent years with rising costs, supply chain

bottlenecks, higher interest rates, and regulatory changes.

Its push into the nascent U.S. market has also proved

challenging, resulting in delays and impairment charges, and has

been complicated by U.S. President Donald Trump's outspoken

opposition to wind power. Trump has suspended federal offshore

wind leasing pending an environmental and economic review.

Nipper, who took the helm in January 2021, faced questions

over his stewardship as losses mounted and the share price fell.

"The impacts on our business of the increasingly challenging

situation in the offshore wind industry ... mean that our focus

has shifted," Orsted Chair Lene Skole said in a statement,

without elaborating.

"Therefore, the board has today agreed with Mads Nipper that

it's the right time for him to step down."

The former oil and gas company's woes reflect the changing

fortunes of wind power globally as soaring costs, delays and

limited supply chain investment prompt investors to reassess the

speed of the energy transition.

Once a green investor favourite, Orsted's market value stood

at $15.1 billion at Thursday's close, a far cry from its peak of

$93.9 billion in January 2021, LSEG data shows.

"The simplest way for investors to regain trust is to change

the CEO," Sydbank analyst Jacob Pedersen said, while adding that

Errboe was the right person for the job.

"What is needed is some continuity in order to keep an eye

on the ball, and to solve the problems that exist in various

parts of the company," Pedersen said.

Orsted's shares were down 0.2% at 1010 GMT, slightly

underperforming Europe's blue-chip stock index.

Errboe, the deputy CEO and chief commercial officer, will

take the helm from Feb. 1, Orsted said.

He has previously been interim finance chief and head of the

company's Europe region. He was appointed deputy CEO last March

as part of Orsted's new business plan, which included trimming

investment and capacity targets.

Nipper, who was CEO at Danish industrials group Grundfos for

six years before joining Orsted, thanked his team on Friday and

praised Errboe.

"My passion for a world that runs entirely on green energy

continues to be deeply profound," Nipper wrote on LinkedIn.