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Orsted flags higher costs at US offshore wind project

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Vestas shares drop after profit margin warning

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Both say green power demand to grow despite election

outcome

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Harris supports offshore wind; Trump has vowed to scrap

projects

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Orsted's Q3 operating profit fell 14%

(Recasts, adds Vestas CEO in paragraph 10-12)

By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Stine Jacobsen

COPENHAGEN, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Demand for green power in

the United States will grow regardless of who is the country's

next president, major players in the wind energy sector Vestas

and Orsted said on Tuesday.

Offshore wind developers have seen profits shrink in recent

years due to rising raw material costs, high interest rates,

inadequate grid connections, supply chain bottlenecks, and

Chinese competition, prompting companies like BP and

Equinor ( EQNR ) to scale back their ambitions.

In the United States, the nascent offshore wind industry has

been roiled by cancelled projects, postponed lease sales and a

construction accident at the country's first major offshore wind

project.

Orsted on Tuesday flagged construction problems and higher

costs at a large U.S. offshore wind project.

Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris has championed

ambitious offshore wind targets as part of President Joe Biden's

administration.

She is in a tight race with Republican candidate Donald

Trump, who has said he will scrap offshore wind projects through

an executive order on his first day in office if he retakes the

White House, claiming wind turbines ruin the environment and

kill birds and whales.

"We see many - both corporates and states - having an

increased demand from reshoring of industries and from the tech

industry," Orsted CEO Mads Nipper told journalists on Tuesday.

"We see it as an all boats rise situation where all energy

sources, not least for electricity, are needed no matter who

ends up in the White House."

NEW GREEN ELECTRICITY NEEDED

Shares of Vestas, the world's largest wind turbine

manufacturer, slumped more than 10% on Tuesday after the company

warned of lower profit margins this year.

Vestas CEO Henrik Andersen downplayed investor concerns

around Tuesday's election outcome.

"I don't think there's any of the order intake that is

dependent on today's election," he said at an analyst call.

"There is a general need and demand higher than the supply

right now for new green electrons to data centres among other

things," he added.

Orsted, the world's biggest offshore wind farm developer,

last year booked massive impairments for cancelled U.S. offshore

projects due to rising inflation, higher interest rates and

supply chain delays.

"It's an industry being built from scratch and it is being

very strongly supported by not least the northeastern states,

where the alternatives for energy supply and especially green

energy supply are difficult," Nipper said.

Orsted said scarce installation vessels and problems with

installing an offshore substation at the 704 megawatt (MW)

Revolution Wind project contributed to costs rising by another

1.7 billion Danish crowns ($248 million) in the third quarter.

Group operating profit fell 14% to 4.44 billion crowns in

the quarter. Analysts had on average forecast 4.61 billion in a

company-provided poll.

Profits were helped by a reversal of some of the losses

Orsted booked last year in the United States.

Its shares were down 1.5% at 1239 GMT. They have risen some

12% this year but are down more than a third from their peak in

early 2021.

($1 = 6.8472 Danish crowns)