Shares in a Danish wind giant nosedived yesterday after it tapped up investors for £7billion to plug a financial hole blamed on Donald Trump's war on renewables.

Orsted's stock suffered a 30 per cent slump after it said it needs to raise extra cash by selling shares.

Fresh doubts are swirling around wind power's ability to reshape global energy, as mounting setbacks point to a sector facing serious turbulence.

And it came as figures from the UK starkly illustrated the practical problems facing the industry – as wind farm operators were paid millions to stop producing energy that could have kept the lights on in Scotland for months.

Orsted – the world's largest offshore wind operator – has been hit by the US President's opposition to wind farms.

Trump campaigned on a promise to ban new wind farms and recently branded turbines 'a con job'.

Orsted yesterday blamed the 'extraordinary situation' in the US for scuppering its plan to sell a stake in a project off the US east coast. The company usually funds the building of new sites by selling off completed projects. But it has paused the sale of its Sunrise Wind hub off the coast of New York and will instead raise money through a rights issue.

Analysts at RBC Capital Markets said the project was 'already materially squeezed on returns'.

'We expect the announcement to be taken negatively by the market,' they said in a note to clients.

Orsted's chairman Lene Skole said: 'Given the unprecedented regulatory development in the US, we have made a comprehensive assessment of all options, and the board has concluded that the planned rights issue is the best path forward for the company and its stakeholders.'

Chief executive Rasmus Errboe added that Orsted and the wind industry are 'in an extraordinary situation with the adverse market development in the US on top of the past years' macroeconomic and supply chain challenges'.

He said: 'To deliver on our business plan and commitments in this environment, we've concluded that a rights issue is the best solution for Orsted and our shareholders.'

Trump has also waded into the clean energy debate in the UK. Before he became President, he opposed the building of onshore turbines near his Scottish golf course and recently urged the UK to 'get rid of the windmills and bring back the oil'.

Yesterday, figures showed Scottish wind farms were paid £117m to stop producing energy that could have powered every home in Scotland for six months.

A report from energy analytics firm Montel found that turbine operators were paid not to produce 37 per cent of their planned output in the first half of the year as the electricity could not be used locally or transported elsewhere. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged to make Britain a clean energy superpower and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said his Net Zero push could knock £300 off bills.

A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesman said: 'Independent analysis from the National Energy System Operator shows we can achieve clean power by 2030 with cheaper electricity, even when factoring in constraint payments, and deliver a more secure energy system for Britain.

'Through our clean power mission, we are halving the time it takes to build network infrastructure, delivering the biggest upgrade in Great Britain's electricity network in decades, which will minimise constraint costs.'