At Ørsted, our vision is a world that runs entirely on green energy
Not only is this necessary to avoid catastrophic changes to the conditions of life on our planet Earth, it is also possible.
Today, renewable energy is the economic choice. Life-time costs of new solar, onshore and offshore wind energy generation are lower than those of new-build coal, gas and nuclear power plants. For offshore wind energy alone, the cost in Europe has dropped by 63% since 2012.
This paper tells the story of how offshore wind energy went from a prototype to a mature and competitive technology at industrial scale. It demonstrates how industrial innovation – and ultimately the birth of a new large-scale energy technology – can happen when industry and government collaborate. While industry can research, demonstrate and deploy new energy solutions at scale, governments must set the framework for the market that enables industrial development, learning and growth of new and promising technologies.
Across the world, countries increasingly act to address climate change by transitioning their energy systems to green energy. Solar, onshore and offshore wind power can provide the backbone of the world’s new green energy system.
However, other complementary technologies will be needed to build a world fully powered by green energy, for instance, to make use of growing renewable power production in decarbonising heating, industry and transport, and to store excess energy for when the demand is higher. Such technologies can be developed and matured faster, if governments and industry collaborate effectively, enhancing the world’s chance of mitigating climate change.
