Our 19 sustainability programmes

We have set a science-based target of reducing the emissions intensity in our energy generation and operations with at least 98 % from 2006 to become a carbon-neutral company in 2025. This covers emissions from generation of heat and power and our operations, including the vessels servicing our wind farms, our vehicles, and our sites (scope 1 and 2). We will offset any residual emissions through carbon removal projects to become carbon-neutral in 2025.

• We have reduced the GHG intensity of our energy generation and operations by 87 % since 2006 to 58 g CO2e/kWh in 2021. We are on track to reach our target of at least a 98 % reduction by 2025.
• We cover 100 % of our own power consumption with green certificates, mainly from our offshore wind farms.

We reduce emissions from our supply chain and from wholesale buying and selling of natural gas (scope 3) in line with the Science Based Targets initiative's (SBTi) 1.5 °C pathway to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040 (scope 1-3). We work with our suppliers to reduce emissions from offshore wind farm components and logistics

• We have partnered with CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) to promote a transparent and uniform way of measuring and disclosing emissions in our supply chain. 97 % of our key strategic suppliers successfully disclosed to the CDP in 2021.
• We have decided that our strategic suppliers should produce and deliver their products and services to us using 100 % green electricity by 2025 at the latest.

We deploy offshore and onshore renewables across our regions: the UK, Continental Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific. We want to accelerate the deployment of renewables globally and have set a strategic build-out target of 30 GW offshore and 17.5 GW onshore capacity by 2030. We are currently on track to reach our build-out target with an installed capacity of 13 GW.

• In offshore wind, we are building the wind farms Hornsea 2 (1.3 GW) and Changhua 1&2a (900 MW), which will both become operational in 2022. In total, we have secured 7.6 GW towards our offshore wind target.
• In onshore wind, our largest project to date, the onshore wind farm Western Trail (367 MW) located in Texas, has been completed, bringing our total onshore wind capacity to over 2.7 GW in operation.
• Within solar, we have completed our 460 MW Permian Energy, a combined solar plus battery storage facility in Texas which will meet the electricity needs of 80,000 US homes. Our total solar capacity is 0.7 GW in operation.
  
  

We deploy onshore renewable energy technologies, including onshore wind and solar PV. We’ve set a target to have 5 GW of onshore energy generation capacity installed by 2025. Our focus is to expand our regional leadership position in the US.

• Increased our installed onshore energy generation capacity to 1.7 GW and on track to meet our 2025 target of 5 GW.
• Expanded our onshore wind portfolio in the US: acquired Haystack (Nebraska); completed Willow Creek (South Dakota), Sage Draw (Texas), and Plum Creek (Nebraska); and took final investment decision on Western Trail project, our largest onshore wind project to date.
• Expanded our solar energy portfolio in the US by acquiring the 227 MW Muscle Shoals project in Alabama and by taking final investment decision to construct the 430 MW Old 300 project in Texas.

We are phasing out coal from our combined heat and power (CHP) plants by replacing it with certified sustainable biomass and by closing down coal-fired capacity. We aim to completely phase out our use of coal in 2023.

• We have completed our coal-to-biomass conversion programme on six of our seven CHP plants in Denmark, but have two remaining units running on coal in Esbjerg and Studstrup, Denmark.
• Until 2023, fluctuations in our coal consumption are expected due to our obligation to provide ancillary services in Denmark and contribute to stable grid operations.

We explore and develop solutions to produce renewable hydrogen to displace fossil fuels in sectors that are difficult to electrify, such as heavy industry and transport. We have taken important steps towards growing our current pipeline of projects within Power-to-X solutions:

• With the SeaH2Land project, we are working on a 1 GW renewable hydrogen production facility to decarbonise the production of ammonia, steel, ethylene, and fuels in the Dutch-Flemish North Sea Port cluster.
• We have commenced construction of the pioneering H2RES project in Denmark, an electrolysis plant which will produce renewable hydrogen for road transport in the Greater Copenhagen area.

We commit to ensuring that all projects commissioned from 2030 must have a net-positive impact. We conduct detailed environmental assessments, engage in dialogue with relevant stakeholders, and provide support for scientific knowledge-building and R&D.

• We have joined the Science Based Targets Network’s (SBTN) Corporate Engagement Programme to help develop and advance tools for measuring our impact and dependency on biodiversity.
• We have partnered with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and deployed ten biohuts in the Port of Grenaa to help preserve the cod stock in Denmark’s Kattegat straits, where population numbers are critically low, negatively impacting ecosystems.
• At our Borssele 1 & 2 Offshore Wind Farm in the Netherlands, we are creating artificial reefs for the Atlantic cod, which plays a key role in the food chain and local ecosystem.
  
  

To achieve a more sustainable use of resources, we are transitioning to become a company with circular economy based on three strategic pillars: (i) We will use fewer virgin resources where possible, (ii) We will use resources better and for longer, (iii) We will recirculate resources upon end of life.

• In 2021, we performed a full-scale life cycle assessment of our Changhua projects in Taiwan to get an updated overview of the environmental footprint across all components of an Ørsted offshore wind farm. This will form the basis of an in-house tool to support our strategy on resource use for future projects.
• We have made a commitment to immediately ban landfilling of all our wind turbine blades, instead seeking to reuse, recycle, or recover the materials. This will bring us closer to a fully recyclable wind farm.

The mining of minerals and metals takes place deep within supply chains, and Ørsted does not have direct control over how these activities are performed. To help shape solutions in this space, we are engaging with key suppliers based on the first three steps of the OECD Guidelines: (i) Establish strong company management systems, (ii) Identify and assess risks in the supply chains, and (iii) Design and implement a strategy to respond to identified risks. We are also addressing the topic through industry initiatives, including WindEurope and the Dutch Wind Covenant.

• We have joined the cross-industry Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA), which focuses on responsible mining practices. With our membership, we want to promote responsible mining practices in our supply chains and learn how other IRMA members are addressing societal and environmental risks in their supply chains.
• We have started a dialogue with ten key suppliers to understand the current level of supply chain transparency for priority metals, and whether social and environmental risks within these networks have been identified.

We only source sustainable biomass certified by independent, third-party certification bodies, in line with Danish legislation. Our biomass is sourced from sustainably managed production forests with ongoing reforestation. The wood pellets and chips we use are made from residues and low-grade wood in low demand from sawmills and other wood industries, most often from sawdust, regular thinning of forests, or diseased or crooked trees.

• We report annually on the biomass feedstock types we use, countries of harvest, and the carbon emissions from production and transport to ensure transparency in our approach.
• In 2021, a new Danish law on biomass has been passed which sets higher standards for companies to document traceability, carbon reductions, third-party certifications, etc. We will abide by this law, and fully support the need for it.

Our renewable energy projects form a very tangible part of the communities in which they are built. Through systematic engagement, it is our ambition to create shared benefits with local communities and enable them to take part in and benefit from the green energy transition. We continue to engage with locally elected officials, suppliers, educational institutions, NGOs, and commercial fisheries. For example:

• In the UK, we awarded more than GBP 330,000 in grants to 16 organisations from coastal communities in Cumbria and Lancashire as part of our Walney Extension Community Fund. Since 2016, we have supported 184 projects in the region with more than GBP 3 million.
• In Taiwan, funds from Ørsted’s Offshore Wind Industrial Development Fund (IDF) made it possible to train over 170 local people in welding and safety, most of whom work for suppliers to our Greater Changhua wind farms.
  
  

We want to ensure that human rights are respected across our operations, suppliers, and business partners. We identify our most salient human rights risks through a human rights impact assessment and address any risks identified through improvement initiatives in our operations or with our business partners. Going forward, we will implement human rights impact assessments on an even more regular basis.

• We have initiated a project to strengthen our human rights approach as we expand into areas and markets with a higher risk of human rights violations.
• We have anchored our human rights efforts in our Sustainability Committee to assign accountability for our human rights work among top management.

We want to build an organisation where diversity, equity, and inclusion accelerate our global growth. Our ambition is (i) embedded in our business strategy and all our talent decisions, (ii) central to our sustainability agenda and regulatory requirements, (iii) global in approach and tailored to local needs, (iv) defined broadly around visible and invisible diversity, and (v) informed by data so we act on evidence and track progress.

• Our new ambition for gender balance is at least a 40/60 balance across Ørsted by 2030, in each of three levels: senior director and above; people managers; all employees.
• We have matured our inclusion networks into a global movement of more than 1,000 members, with a network in every region supported by senior leaders.
• We have introduced employee diversity dashboards to measure gender, nationality, and age across career levels and business areas to increase transparency and strengthen accountability among top management and team leaders.

We take a holistic and preventive approach to employee well-being where mental, physical, and social health are prioritised equally. We are committed to creating a healthy, safe, and inclusive workplace and to promoting a sustainable approach to the working lives of our employees. The well-being of our global workforce is key to how we define success.

• We have launched several initiatives to focus on our employees’ mental and physical health, including:
  • producing new materials for managers on how to work with stress, bullying, harassment, and discrimination
  • rolling out the Howdy well-being monitoring app to all business areas and piloting a supplemental feature that measures muscular skeletal health
  • launching MOVE, a health initiative to encourage movement to enhance physical and mental well-being.

We have a strategic aspiration to foster a global, inclusive, and effective organisation, and our employees’ development and satisfaction are key components in making this happen. We provide global digital and in-person learning opportunities for all employees, both through our learning platform and through programmes tailored to specific business areas and geographies. Learning opportunities are easy to use, scalable, individualised, and transparent, and drive business outcomes.

• We have begun piloting a new career framework, which we intend to roll out company-wide in 2022. The framework is designed to provide more transparency around career opportunities and to enable people to take more ownership of career development in line with their aspirations.