NORWAY'S Equinor has long stressed that offshore wind has a very different risk profile than oil and gas, with more stable revenues. However, with a fixed price for the power produced, there is also little potential upside, and costs recently appeared to be rising for some other wind power businesses-not falling. For example, Danish wind installation giant Orsted warned in a third-quarter earnings statement about difficult conditions due not only to weaker-than-usual winds, but also supply-chain difficulties and delays in manufacturing. Supply-chain instability and rising energy prices-as well as accelerated cost inflation for raw materials, transport and turbine components-also impacted the profitability of leading turbine manufacturer Vestas. An Equinor spokesperson acknowledged to Upstream that the Norwegian company's projects can be affected by global trends for the cost and availability of inputs, but added that there are contractual mechanisms in place to balance the risk between supplier and developer.
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