Following the announcement of Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election, shares of several renewable energy companies experienced a decline in trading on Wednesday. Solar companies, in particular, were hit hard, with Enphase Energy dropping over 18% and First Solar falling more than 12%. Brookfield Renewable Partners also saw a decrease of over 8%.
European clean energy groups were not immune to the market reaction, with Orsted, the world's largest offshore wind developer, experiencing a drop of up to 14%. Wind turbine manufacturers Vestas and Nordex also traded down around 11% and 7.6%, respectively.
On the other hand, traditional market indices such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite all reached new intraday highs on Wednesday morning.
Trump's victory over Vice President Kamala Harris dealt a blow to the green agenda of the Biden-Harris administration, which had prioritized government spending on clean energy initiatives. Biden's Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 had allocated $369 billion towards 'Energy Security and Climate Change' provisions, aiming to reduce carbon emissions by 40% by 2030 through incentives and tax breaks.
In contrast, Trump's stance on energy policy has been clear, with a focus on supporting the fossil fuel industry. He has pledged to increase domestic drilling activities and has indicated plans to halt offshore wind projects through executive orders on his first day in office. Additionally, Trump has expressed intentions to roll back climate regulations that were put in place during the Biden administration.
