Amid speculation about the potential re-election of former U.S. President Donald Trump, CS Wind shares are experiencing volatility. Despite impressive performance last year, with revenues of 1.5486 trillion won and operating profits of 142.2 billion won, the company’s shares have dropped by approximately 30% since the year began.
CS Wind holds the top spot in the global wind turbine tower market, focusing mainly on the United States and Europe, contributing about 90% of its revenue.
The company has benefited from the eco-friendly policies of the Biden administration, particularly the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Under the IRA, wind turbine towers manufactured in the U.S. qualify for a 3-cent advanced manufacturing investment tax credit per watt for a decade. CS Wind gained eligibility for IRA benefits by acquiring the Vestas wind turbine tower factory in June 2021. Vestas is the world’s largest wind turbine company, located in Colorado. Subsidies totaling approximately 70 billion won were attributed to revenue until the third quarter of last year. President Biden visited the factory in November and met with CS Wind’s founder, Gim Seong-gon.
CS Wind is investing $600 million in its U.S. factory to increase production capacity from 4 gigawatts (GW) to around 10 GW by 2027, aiming for a revenue scale of approximately 2 trillion won.
However, concerns are growing in the industry about the potential impact of former President Trump returning to the White House, particularly regarding the IRA. Trump has criticized the Biden administration’s eco-friendly policies, arguing that they have increased electricity prices and accelerated inflation. He even said, “The windmills aren’t working, the most expensive form of energy ever.”
Hwang Jae-kon, a researcher at Shinhan Investment, noted that wind power could be the sector most negatively affected if Trump gets re-elected. He highlighted offshore wind power’s high generation cost among renewable energies and the lack of an established supply chain in the U.S., which might not align with Trump’s America-centric policies. He further added, “While repealing the IRA might be challenging, there could be strict changes in the regulations for tax benefits.”
CS Wind remains confident, stating that since its current U.S. revenue comes from onshore wind power, any cancellation or delay of offshore wind power projects in the short term would not impact its performance. Global deployment of offshore wind power is expected to significantly increase by 2026. According to BloombergNEF, global cumulative offshore wind power installations are forecasted to grow to about 519 GW by 2035, approximately ten times the figure recorded in 2021 (53 GW).
CS Wind recently acquired Bladt Holdings A/S, a Danish offshore wind turbine substructure company, and expanded its Vietnamese subsidiary to meet the anticipated demand for offshore wind turbine towers. The expansion of its offshore wind tower production facility in Portugal is set to conclude this year.
A CS Wind spokesperson said, “We are preparing offshore wind turbine towers to capture global markets, including Europe, through various production bases,” adding, “It’s difficult to comment on the impact following Trump’s re-election.”
