Three interrelated crises – climate change, biodiversity loss and energy security – are all driving the urgent need to develop new renewable energy solutions.
The production and use of fossil fuels account for nearly 75% of global carbon emissions. To limit climate change and power the world sustainably, we must drastically accelerate the transformation of the world’s energy systems from fossil fuels to renewables.
At Ørsted, we’ve gone through our own green transformation . We were once one of the most fossil fuel-intensive energy companies in Europe. Today, we’re the world’s most sustainable energy developer, and a global leader in the transition to green energy.
What we do?
Over the past 30 years, we have established our company as the global leader in offshore wind with 8.2 GW installed capacity. Our ambition is to have installed 20-22 GW of offshore wind globally by 2030.
We develop, construct, own and operate offshore and onshore wind farms, battery storage and solar projects. We also have a Power-to-X business that provides renewable hydrogen solutions – which can power medium to heavy-duty transport or be used in industry.
Headquartered in Denmark, we operate across Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region.
The UK is our largest offshore wind market with 5.6 GW of installed capacity – enough green energy to power over 6 million UK homes a year1
[1] This based on an average household electricity consultation of 3.689MWh (Enerdata) and a load factor for offshore wind of 48%
Where do we generate energy?
Our green transformation
In 2009, 85% of Ørsted’s energy production was based on fossil fuels and only 15% on renewables. We committed to switching that ratio to 85% renewable energy and only 15% fossil fuels by 2040.
Many thought we were overly ambitious and said it couldn’t be done. But we were determined to focus on offshore wind, bring down its production costs and decisively move away from fossil fuels.
We achieved our goal by 2019 – within a decade of setting it and 21 years ahead of schedule. Today, Ørsted is the world’s leading offshore wind developer.
We have divested our oil and gas production business and we no longer use any coal for generating power. We’ve also set an industry-leading ambition that all renewable energy projects we commission from 2030 deliver a net-positive biodiversity impact.
We’ve come so far, but we’re far from done. On the path to net-zero, we’re just getting started.