RWE Finances and Equinor’s Empire Wind Struggles

This week Allen discusses the European Investment Bank’s major wind farm investment in Romania, the financial performance of German energy giant RWE, and the potential cancellation of Equinor’s Empire Wind Project due to regulatory challenges.

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Welcome to Uptime News. Flash Industry News Lightning fast. Your host, Allen Hall, shares the renewable industry news you may have missed.

Allen Hall: Okay, starting off the week over in Romania, the European investment bank is investing 30 million euros in a major wind farm project in Romania. The poster two project located near the Black Sea, will have a capacity of up to 400 megawatts.

That’s enough to supply over 1.4 million Romanian households for an entire year. The EIB is partnering with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners on the project with the total investment expected to be in excess of 500 million Euros.

Construction is due to start later this year and it will bolster the European Union’s push for climate neutrality by mid-century.

German energy Giant RWE, reported an adjusted EBITDA of 1.3 billion euros [00:01:00] for the first three months of 2025. Adjusted net income amounted to 0.5 billion euros as expected earnings were below the level of the same quarter last year.

This decline was primarily attributable to normalization of income in the flexible generation segment and a weaker start to the year in the trading business. The commissioning of new offshore wind farms, solar plants, and battery storage facilities had a positive impact on the company’s performance.

RWE commissioned 600 megawatts of new generation capacity in the first quarter alone. The company, currently has new plants with a combined capacity of 11.2 gigawatts under construction. Michael Mueller, chief financial officer of RWE, stated that they were reaffirming their full year earnings forecast after a solid start to the year.

He noted, that the company is making great progress in expanding its portfolio in a value accretive manner. Construction projects remain on schedule [00:02:00] and on budget.

Over in Norway, Equinor is warning it may cancel its Empire Wind Project off New York’s coast.

Following a Trump administration stop work order, the company is spending $50 million weekly to keep the project afloat while awaiting resolution. Molly Morris, president of Equinor’s US renewable energy arm, describe the situation as unsustainable. The Interior Department led by Secretary Doug Bergham ordered Equinor to halt construction

on April 17th. The order cited information suggesting the Biden administration may have approved the project without a thorough environmental analysis. The stop work order stemmed from a report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

However, Equinor says it has not seen the report and is not aware of the specific concerns raised. The project represents a significant investment for Equinor. The company has already invested $2.7 billion in the [00:03:00] Empire Wind Facility.

Currently, 11 vessels with 100 workers remain on board, sitting on the water, waiting for an order to resume work. That’s this week’s top. New stories. Stay tuned tomorrow for the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast.