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In the past weeks two major developments have rocked the financial markets have can only be strongly beneficial to the Asian wind farm industry.
The first is the Joint Offshore Wind Investment Pact for the North Seas signed, on January 26 during the North Sea Summit 2026 in Hamburg, Germany, by representatives of nine European governments that represents a massive commitment of resources, including €1 trillion ( US$1.18 trillion ) of economic activity and €9.5 billion in supply-chain investments.
Signed by the governments of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom, alongside the wind industry and transmission system operators, the pact commits to transform the North Sea into a “green power plant” for Europe.
Although it is a European agreement focused on the North Sea region, its contents are highly relevant to the Asian offshore wind industry due to the global nature of energy capital, supply chains and technological competition.
The second is a preliminary injunction issued on February 2 by US District Court of Columbia’s judge Royce Lamberth that will allow Danish multinational energy operator Ørsted to proceed with all offshore wind construction on the Sunrise Wind, a US$7 billion wind project located 16.4 nautical miles ( 30.4 kilometres ) south of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, that was stopped by the Trump administration on December 22 2025, citing security risks.
With the Ørsted preliminary injunction, all five offshore wind farms that had their operations suspended by a stop work order from US Department of the Interior in December have been cleared by federal courts to resume construction signalling a major defeat for the Trump administration in its bid to stop wind farm development in the US.
Damaged investor confidence
For the Asian offshore wind industry, the significance of this is, while the Trump administration’s attempt to freeze the US offshore wind industry has met a string of legal defeats, the damage to investor confidence appears permanent, with a dramatic reshuffling of the global energy map as capital that once targeted the American eastern seaboard is now flowing towards the more stable regulatory waters of Asia.
Leading this exodus is Ørsted, the world’s largest offshore wind developer. After fighting a gruelling legal battle to protect its US$7 billion Sunrise Wind project from federal stop-work orders, the Danish firm has signalled a fundamental shift in its global strategy. Under an updated business plan, Ørsted is reducing its global workforce by 2,000 positions and sharpening its geographical focus.
While the company says it remains committed to finishing its current 8.1 gigawatt ( GW ) construction portfolio in the US, it has explicitly prioritized “select markets in the Asia-Pacific region” over future expansion in North America.
The statements made at the summit by Ørsted executives led by its CEO Rasmus Errboe regarding their commitment to the North Sea, analysts say, is being read in Asia as part of the company's broader strategic shift to prioritize “select markets in the Asia-Pacific region”, alongside its European core, following its legal struggles in the US.
Asia competition
For context, the Joint Offshore Wind Investment Pact emphasizes building a “resilient and reliable” supply chain “made in Europe”, which analysts consider a strategic response to China’s current dominance in the wind farm sector, as China currently accounts for nearly half of the world’s cumulative capacity and hosts 25% of the manufacturing sites used by Western turbine makers.
Efforts in the North Sea to standardize components and harmonize the Net Zero Industry Act are intended to create economies of scale that can compete with the integrated supply chains already established in Asia.
The pact outlines commitments to pioneer technologies that are critical for the next phase of development in Asia, particularly:
The agreement includes a strong focus on the physical and cyber protection of offshore assets. In a period of heightened “geopolitical tensions”, these security standards and “security-by-design” principles are likely to become the international standard for offshore projects in the South China Sea and other contested Asian waters.
Essentially, while the pact is geographically specific to the North Sea, it serves as a strategic blueprint and a competitive signal to the Asian market regarding cost reduction, supply-chain independence and technical standardization.
Asia benefits
The beneficiary of the expected capital flight is an Asian market that is rapidly maturing into the world’s “investment epicentre” for the energy transition. Analysts expect Asia to dominate renewable investment in 2026, driven by rapid urbanization and aggressive government-led decarbonization efforts.
China is on track to claim 45% of the world’s cumulative offshore wind capacity by 2030. In early 2025, over half of the world’s 15,100 operating turbines were already located in Chinese waters.
Also, outside of China, Taiwan continues to lead the Asia-Pacific region, accounting for over 60% of its current capacity.
Meanwhile, South Korea has emerged as the global leader in floating wind technology, approving over 10GW of capacity following successful auction rounds in 2025.
In Southeast Asia, countries like Vietnam and the Philippines are increasingly viewed as potential markets for attracting private capital that was previously earmarked for the US market.
The implications extend beyond project financing, analysts say, to the very backbone of the industry.
The Trump administration’s focus on energy dominance through fossil fuels has inadvertently strengthened China’s grip on the renewable supply chain. With the US market considered high-risk, Western manufacturers are returning to China’s favourable business environment. At present about 25% of the manufacturing sites for key components used by Western turbine makers are located in China.
In conclusion, by the time the US courts cleared projects like Sunrise Wind to resume this month, the global market had already moved on. While the US has won zero in five of its legal battle with wind, the real score is being tallied in the boardrooms of Asia, where the future of the global wind industry is now being built.
