Dong Energy becomes Ørsted - an energy company on its way to a green future

Ten years ago, DONG Energy began its transition from a company dependent on fossil fuels into one that focuses on green energy. Since then, the company reduced its coal consumption by 73% and decided to stop using coal completely by the year 2023. Over the course of these ten years, CO₂ emissions were more than halved. By 2023 this is to be reduced by 96%. These targets are more ambitious than those of the Paris Agreement, which tries to prevent global warming of more than 2°C.

In September 2017, the company separated its oil and gas business. Since then, DONG Energy has been exclusively dedicated to renewable energies. The company is not only converting coal-fired power plants, building sustainable biomass power plants and developing innovative waste processing plants, it is also the market leader in offshore wind energy.  DONG Energy has a global share of 25% and has been active in Germany since 2006.

With three completed and one offshore wind farm under construction in the German North Sea, DONG Energy produces green electricity for almost one million German households. In April 2017, the company received funds for the construction of three further German wind farms. Two of them are built without state subsidies and are expected to be connected to the grid in 2024 and 2025.

This shift towards solely relying on renewable energies in the future is no longer reflected in the company’s name, because DONG Energy stands for “Danish Oil and Natural Gas”. This is why DONG Energy is changing its name to Ørsted – inspired by the Danish scientist Hans Christian Ørsted, who discovered electromagnetism almost 200 years ago. This created the foundation of the way energy is produced today.

Link to the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzpwFGQ-4wI