Shares in major European renewable energy companies jumped on Wednesday morning after President Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ was passed by the Senate with less punitive provisions for green energy projects than initially proposed.
The U.S. Senate passed on Tuesday the spending and tax bill with the narrowest of margins, with Vice President JD Vance casting a tie-breaking vote after more than 24 hours of debate. The Bill must also be approved by the House, where more opposition is expected to emerge.
The original bill included a new excise tax on renewable energy projects if they are built with a certain percentage of materials sourced from prohibited foreign countries, like China. However, the amended bill removed that excise tax, easing concerns about prohibitively expensive new solar and wind projects.
An excise tax would have increased U.S. consumer electricity prices by 8-10%, according to the American Clean Power Association.
With the excise tax out of the way, the Big Beautiful Bill also made concessions about the timeline for phasing out tax credits for renewable energy projects. Solar and wind power projects that have already been planned, financed, and approved would still be eligible for the tax credit, provided that construction starts before June 2026 or if they become operational by the end of 2027.
As the amended Bill turned out less punitive for the renewable energy industry than initially feared, shares in Europe’s major wind turbine and solar parts manufacturers jumped.
Denmark’s turbine maker Vestas jumped by 10%, while Orsted, the world’s biggest offshore wind developer, saw its shares rise by 2% in Copenhagen at noon on Wednesday.
Shares in SMA Solar, the German solar power parts supplier, surged by 10%.
“We see significant incentives for developers to place orders no later than H1’26 in order to lock-in credits for in-service from 2028,” Citi analysts wrote in a note carried by Reuters, adding that the amended Bill removes a 2027 “cliff” for renewable energy projects in the U.S.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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