Offshore wind turbines like Ørsted’s Anholt Wind Farm in Denmark are central to decarbonising power systems worldwide. The world’s energy system is undergoing a historic transformation. In the face of escalating climate change and biodiversity loss, nations are racing to replace fossil fuels with clean energy sources. Offshore wind that was once a niche technology has become a cornerstone of decarbonisation plans from Europe to Asia. Governments have set bold targets, such as a pact to develop 300 GW of offshore wind in the North Sea by 2050, reflecting offshore wind’s critical role in achieving net-zero emissions.

At COP30 in late 2025, world leaders reinforced that scaling renewables is essential not only for climate goals but also for energy security, economic growth, and public health. Amid this global shift, Ørsted has emerged as a striking proof-point that an energy company can reinvent itself for a sustainable future. Once a fossil-fuel heavy utility, Ørsted has transformed into a pure-play renewables leader, demonstrating what a proactive response to the climate challenge looks like in practice.

💡 Ørsted’s renewable energy now accounts for 99% of its power generation, after completely phasing out coal in 2025. In fact, over the past two decades, the company slashed its carbon intensity (Scope 1 and 2 emissions per kWh) by more than 98%, effectively completing its green transformation from one of Europe’s most fossil-intensive utilities to a clean energy pure-player.

This makes Ørsted the first energy company in the world to so fully eliminate fossil fuels from its own generation.

“Sustainability is a core part of Ørsted’s DNA, and I’m proud of this result. 2025 was the first year where no coal was used in our heat and power generation, marking the year Ørsted’s green transformation was effectively complete,” says Ingrid Reumert, Ørsted’s Senior Vice President for Global Stakeholder Relations.

Now, virtually every electron Ørsted produces is green, primarily from offshore and onshore wind, a testament to how fast a major power producer can decarbonise when aligning strategy with climate science.

Powering the Transition with Renewables

Ørsted’s story is often held up as a case study in the global energy transition. The company has rapidly scaled up renewable generation capacity while driving down emissions. Today, Ørsted operates a total of 18.5 GW of renewable energy capacity across offshore wind farms, onshore wind, solar, and bioenergy plants. This includes more than 10 GW of offshore wind installed with a fleet from the North Sea to the Asia Pacific that cements Ørsted’s status as the world’s leading offshore wind developer. And more is coming: Ørsted is constructing an additional 8.1 GW of offshore wind projects across three continents, set to boost its offshore capacity to over 18 GW by 2027. This growth contributes significantly to the global clean energy supply. In 2025 alone, Ørsted’s offshore wind farms generated 19.7 TWh of electricity, a 6% increase over the prior year, despite less favourable winds.

“In 2025, we made significant progress on our four strategic priorities, strengthening Ørsted’s financial and operational foundation as the leading global developer and operator of offshore wind,” notes Group President and CEO Rasmus Errboe, underlining that scaling wind energy remains at the core of Ørsted’s mission.

Crucially, Ørsted’s expansion of renewables is guided by a holistic sustainability strategy rather than growth at any cost. The company’s approach centres on three strategic ESG priorities that complement its business goals: decarbonisation, biodiversity, and community impact. These pillars ensure that Ørsted not only adds green megawatts but also does so in a way that reduces carbon emissions across its value chain, safeguards nature, and delivers benefits to local communities.

Operational Decarbonisation

Having already achieved a 99% renewable energy share in its operations, Ørsted is now tackling emissions beyond its own generation. The company met its science-based 2025 target for cutting Scope 1-2 emissions, and is turning its focus to the more complex Scope 3 emissions in its supply chain and product use. The ultimate goal is to reach net-zero emissions across the value chain by 2040, a target validated by the Science Based Targets initiative. This involves working closely with suppliers to cut manufacturing and transport emissions, as well as helping customers decarbonise the power they consume. On the regulatory side, Ørsted’s early decarbonisation gives it a head start in meeting new climate rules and carbon costs, turning sustainability into a competitive advantage.

Biodiversity at Sea: A New Frontier

Ørsted recognises that the climate crisis and biodiversity crisis are intertwined, so it has set an ambitious goal to have a net-positive biodiversity impact on all new projects commissioned from 2030 onwards. In practice, this means offshore wind farms should leave ecosystems healthier than before. Ørsted is pioneering measures to protect and restore ocean habitats around its installations, such as artificial reefs, seabed restoration, and species conservation programs, to ensure that renewable energy development goes hand in hand with nature.

For example, Ørsted partnered with the NGO ARK Rewilding Netherlands on a pilot to re-establish shellfish reefs in the North Sea. In 2023, the partners introduced millions of oyster larvae on the seabed at an offshore wind site to kick-start reef ecosystems. Early results indicate these reefs can improve water quality and create habitats for myriad marine species. Ørsted’s aim is to scale such initiatives so that its offshore wind farms act as havens for biodiversity rather than hazards. As part of this effort, Ørsted also became one of the first energy companies to issue a “blue bond”, a EUR 100 million bond dedicated to funding marine biodiversity projects. In 2025, proceeds from this blue bond went to restore reefs and marine habitats, and Ørsted’s transparent reporting on the outcomes earned an award for best practice in impact reporting.

💡 Ørsted has committed to deliver a net-positive biodiversity impact for every new renewable energy project it commissions from 2030 onward. This means each new wind farm or solar array will not only avoid harm but also actively improve ecosystem health through measures like reef restoration, habitat creation, and species protection.

Empowering Communities and a Just Transition

Ensuring the energy transition benefits people and local communities is the third pillar of Ørsted’s ESG strategy. “On community impact, we deliver positive, lasting impact that enhances local well-being and strengthens support for renewable energy projects,” the company states in its annual report. In practical terms, Ørsted works closely with communities near its project sites, from coastal towns hosting offshore wind operations to rural areas with onshore turbines, to share the economic opportunities of green energy. For instance, Ørsted provides community benefit funds that invest in local projects, education, and infrastructure. In the UK, the company established the Hornsea Three Community Benefit Fund to channel revenues from one of its largest offshore wind farms into grants for local environmental and social initiatives. A similar fund in Poland, branded “Powered by Wind,” supports development projects near Ørsted’s Baltica offshore wind project.

Ørsted is also partnering with organisations to enhance job training and workforce development in regions where it operates. In 2025, it signed an agreement with local institutes in Australia (TAFE Gippsland and Federation University) to help train the country’s first offshore wind workforce, ahead of Ørsted’s planned wind farms in Victorian waters. These efforts help equip communities with the skills and employment needed to prosper in the green economy.

Finally, Ørsted places strong emphasis on respecting human rights across its supply chain and project development. It has a dedicated Human Rights Policy and conducts rigorous due diligence with suppliers. In 2025 alone, Ørsted carried out over 300 supplier risk screenings to ensure safe working conditions and fair labor practices in its renewable energy supply chains. By proactively engaging on issues like workers’ rights and indigenous consultation, the company strives for a “just transition” that leaves no community behind.

💡 Ørsted’s community programs span from youth education to long-term investment funds. In 2025, the company partnered to launch a Horizon Youth Zone center in Grimsby, UK, providing new opportunities and facilities for local youth near its East Coast Hub. Ørsted also extended community funds in coastal Poland for two more years, directly supporting local development projects around its upcoming Baltica 2 wind farm.

Green Financing and ESG Leadership

Underpinning Ørsted’s sustainability agenda is a commitment to integrate ESG considerations into financial decisions. The company has become a global leader in green finance, leveraging sustainable funding to accelerate its renewables build-out. Since 2017, Ørsted has issued only green bonds for its debt financing, meaning capital raised is dedicated to environmentally beneficial projects. As of 2025, 88% of Ørsted’s outstanding bonds and hybrid capital are green instruments. In its 2025 Green Finance Impact report, Ørsted detailed that it allocated DKK 11.4 billion (≈ USD 1.7 billion) in green bond proceeds during the year to six new wind farms and energy storage projects, bringing its total green bond allocations to DKK 83.2 billion across 24 renewable energy projects since 2017. These projects, financed by green debt, are estimated to avoid about 4.3 million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually, while providing enough clean electricity to power 6.3 million people each year, providing a striking illustration of the real-world impact that sustainable finance is enabling.

In addition, Ørsted in 2025 drew on innovative funding sources like its EUR 525 million green loan backed by Export Finance Norway to support the construction of the Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm. The company also updated its Green Finance Framework to align with the latest industry principles, earning the highest “dark green” evaluation from S&P for its robust approach. By tying its financing strategy to its sustainability goals, Ørsted not only attracts investors who are increasingly focused on ESG, but also often secures lower funding costs thanks to the high demand for green assets.

“At Ørsted, we have an ambition to only use sustainable financing instruments for long-term financing, and we only invest in EU Taxonomy-aligned projects,” explains CFO Trond Westlie, highlighting how closely the treasury function works hand-in-hand with the sustainability team.

This holistic approach was recognised when Ørsted garnered multiple top-tier ESG ratings in 2025, including an “A” Climate score from CDP for the sixth year running, an MSCI ESG rating of AAA, and a gold medal from EcoVadis, placing it in the top 5% of companies assessed. Ørsted’s consistent inclusion in global sustainability indices (it ranked 9th overall on Corporate Knights’ 2025 Global 100 index of the world’s most sustainable companies) further attests to its leadership in marrying strong financial performance with environmental and social progress.

As Anders Johannes Enghild, Ørsted’s Head of Global Sustainability, puts it: “Ørsted is a climate company by design and delivering offshore wind is the single most important thing we do. Doing it at pace and at scale is essential to meeting the Paris Agreement… Delivering it sustainably is what allows that pace and scale to be sustained over time.”

💡 Since 2017, Ørsted has raised over DKK 83 billion (≈ USD 12 billion) in green bonds to fund its renewable projects, contributing to an annual avoidance of 4.3 million tonnes of CO₂.

Ørsted: Keeping the Transition on Track

Ørsted’s journey from coal-intensive utility to renewable energy champion offers a hopeful blueprint for the broader industry. In a defining year, the company demonstrated that aggressive decarbonisation is achievable and can go hand-in-hand with biodiversity stewardship and community value creation. Its 2025 results highlight nearly carbon-neutral operations, thriving ecosystem pilots, and deep community partnerships that show a company leaning into its role as a sustainability leader. Yet Ørsted is candid that the work is far from finished. The next horizon is tackling Scope 3 emissions on the path to net-zero 2040, which means innovating with suppliers on green steel, electric vessels, and other low-carbon solutions. The company also plans to scale up its net-positive biodiversity initiatives as more projects come online, making ecological enhancements a standard component of wind farm development. And as Ørsted expands into new markets (like the United States and Asia Pacific), it is focusing on local capacity-building, ensuring workforce training, supplier diversity, and community consultation are embedded from the start.

Looking ahead, Ørsted’s strategy is to continue proving that sustainability and competitiveness go hand in hand. Management has made clear that all future growth must align with its ESG priorities, reinforcing resilience against both climate risks and social risks. Investors and sustainability professionals will be watching closely as Ørsted delivers its current construction pipeline and pursues new opportunities. The company’s ability to maintain high ESG standards while navigating industry challenges (such as supply chain constraints and policy shifts) will likely determine its success. If the past is any guide, Ørsted will press its advantage as an early mover. By powering the transition to green energy and prioritising planet and people in how that transition unfolds, Ørsted exemplifies what a 21st-century energy major can look like. In doing so, it is helping to chart the course toward, as the company’s vision states, “a world that runs entirely on green energy”, built on foundations that are sustainable in every sense of the word.

Sources:
Ørsted’s annual report 2025
Ørsted’s green finance report 2025

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