Our Green Business Transformation

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Increasingly companies all over the world are seeing the need to transform to a sustainable business model. Ørsted has undertaken a green transformation in the last decade. In the late 2000s we were one of the most coal intensive power generators in Europe with an expanding oil and gas production business. But we took a strategic decision to become a green energy company, as we were convinced it was the right approach strategically, financially and environmentally.

To drive our transformation, we invested heavily in renewable energy, particularly offshore wind; exited our fossil fuel businesses, and formulated our vision of creating a world that runs entirely on green energy. We are now one of the largest renewable energy companies by capacity globally and the leading offshore wind company. Financial performance has significantly improved whilst we have reduced our carbon emissions by 86%. Becoming a green energy company has facilitated the globalisation of our business.

This paper shares our insights on how we transformed as a company. In the first half we describe our transformation from fossil fuels to renewables. In the second half we offer what we consider our most important learnings about how to execute such a green business transformation, which may be helpful for those companies, in any sector, considering or already undertaking such a journey. The seven learnings give our take on the leadership approach that is required to do an accelerated transformation to a more sustainable business model. Because we believe profitability and sustainability are not in competition, but go hand in hand.