DONG Energy donates £300,000 to fishing community

DONG Energy is to donate £300,000 towards supporting and developing commercial fishing activities in the East Irish Sea.

The fund will be available for applications from the fishing community in that area, and it will be managed and administered by the independent, not-for-profit company West of Morecambe Fisheries.

Benj Sykes, UK Country Manager at DONG Energy, said:

"As a company that operates at sea, we are absolutely committed to working alongside the fishing community to ensure we have a positive contribution in the areas where our operations are based.

Notes to Editors

About DONG Energy:

DONG Energy (NASDAQ OMX: DENERG) is one of Northern Europe's leading energy groups and is headquartered in Denmark. Around 6,200 ambitious employees, including over 850 in the UK, develop, construct and operate offshore wind farms, generate power and heat from our power stations as well as supply and trade in energy to wholesale, business and residential customers. In addition, we produce oil and gas, and a process has been initiated to divest this business unit. The continuing part of the Group has approximately 5,800 employees and generated a revenue in 2016 of DKK 61 billion (EUR 8.2 billion). For further information, see www.dongenergy.co.uk or follow us @DONGEnergyUK on Twitter.

"The West of Morecambe Fisheries fund was set up in 2013 for this very reason and numerous fishermen have benefitted. We are really pleased with the success of projects that we have been able to support, and as we begin offshore construction for Walney Extension we are delighted to announce an additional £300,000 contribution today."

In 2016 the East Irish Fishermen's Group, a collective of independent fishermen from various East Irish Sea ports including Fleetwood, was awarded funds for safety and fishing equipment. Other examples of successful projects include assistance with environmental assessments or expert services.

Ron Graham, Chairman of the Whitehaven Fishermen's Cooperative, said:


"Today's announcement that DONG Energy are to donate £300,000 to support fishing activities and communities as a result of the new Walney Extension offshore wind farm site will be warmly welcomed by fishing interests both here in the North West of England and in Northern Ireland.

"This donation demonstrates that the chosen route of cooperation with developers will bring very real positive results for the fishing industry."

Notices have been set out to fishermen in the area, and more information can be found at: www.westofmorecambe.com

The proposed Walney Extension offshore wind farm, located approximately 19 kilometres off the coast of Cumbria, will have the capacity to power over 460,000 UK homes.

The project will be the largest wind farm in the world when built and is expected to be generating clean electricity by 2019.

Onshore construction began in December 2015 and offshore construction has now also begun.

For additional information, please contact:

James Platt - Ørsted
+44 20 7811 5519