Climate change is a reality, and it’s rapidly changing the conditions of life on Earth. To protect our shared home, we need to become better at powering it with green energy.
Almost 75 % of global emissions come from the use of energy, mainly due to the burning of fossil fuels for power, heat, cooling, transportation, and industrial processes.
Pollution from fossil fuels is harmful to our planet. We want to change that. And our vision is clear: Let’s create a world that runs entirely on green energy.
Keeping down the global temperature rise
Since the Paris Agreement came into force in 2016, the international community has found common ground in its efforts to keep the global temperature rise below 1.5°C.
From fossil fuels to renewables
Despite the progress, we believe that more can be done to reduce the consequences of climate change.
In 2008, we did a complete rethink of our business strategy, and that’s when we embarked on our journey of transforming from a fossil-fuelled to a renewables energy company. We increased our investments in offshore wind farms and started to convert our power stations from firing coal to using sustainable biomass as fuel. In 2017, we took the final step and divested our oil and gas business.
Our position as a global green energy major
We’re the global leader in offshore wind, with by far the largest installed capacity and the largest number of new projects among offshore wind developers. Our market-leading position has enabled us to reduce the costs of renewable energy, so new markets and investors can see the huge potential of offshore wind as a more profitable, efficient and sustainable alternative to fossil fuels.
We also operate onshore wind farms, solar centres, energy storage facilities, bioenergy plants and renewable hydrogen facilities.
Read more about our green energy solutions
Our 2030 ambition
Our ambition is to have built 50 GW of energy generation capacity across all our green energy technologies by 2030.
If we meet this target, by 2030 we will have built enough renewable energy facilities to supply green power for 80 million people.
People powered by renewable energy capacity built by Ørsted (million)
Coal consumption down by 91 %
Since 2006, we’ve reduced our power stations’ coal consumption by 91 %, and we’ve decided to stop using coal by 2023* . Instead, we use sustainably sourced wood chips and wood pellets while continuing to convert our coal- and gas-fired power stations.
A farewell to CO2
Since 2006, we’ve reduced our carbon emissions by 89 %, and our target is to become a carbon-neutral company by 2025. Our build-out of renewable energy brings green power to millions of people and is a key focus area for our CO2 reductions.
Green energy for everyone – now and in the future
We’re committed to renewable energy, enabling people, businesses and communities to lever its potential without having to worry about causing a negative environmental impact or limiting the opportunities of future generations.
* Following orders from the Danish authorities, Ørsted must delay its target to stop using coal one year to 2024. Ørsted maintains its goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2025.
To ensure the security of the electricity supply in Denmark, the Danish authorities have decided to order Ørsted to continue and resume operations of three of its Danish power station units. This applies to two units which use coal as their primary source of fuel, and one which uses oil as fuel. One of these is Ørsted’s last coal-fired powerplant in operation, scheduled to be decommissioned on 31 March 2023, and the two other units have already been decommissioned.
The Danish authorities have ordered Ørsted to keep the three units in operation until 30 June 2024.
