Ørsted
Profile
Electric utility Ørsted was originally a state-owned company called Dansk Naturgas A/S that was created by Denmark in 1972 to manage gas and oil resources in the Danish sector of the North Sea. Although it is still majority-owned by the Danish state, almost half of its shares are now held by investors following a contentious privatization process. In recent years, it has attempted to rebrand itself as "green" by selling off the Laggan-Tormore, Ormen Lange, and Syd Arne gas fields to Ineos for US$1.05 billion which continues to operate them.
Today it claims to be the largest offshore wind builder in the world, which it achieved by taking advantage of a system of guaranteed prices created in the 1990s and 2000s across Europe. The Renewable Energy Foundation, an anti-wind farm group, claims that the price guarantees resulted in Hornsey offshore wind array receiving a £479 million subsidy in 2020 alone, while the London Array received a £285 million subsidy. The company's onshore wind turbines have often been opposed by local communities such as in County Donegal, Ireland.
Offshore wind, onshore wind, solar and storage, renewable hydrogen, bioenergy.
Ørsted was profiled as part of the report "Green" Multinationals Exposed: How the Energy Transition is Being Hijacked by Corporate Interests.
Violations
Violation data for Ørsted is still being gathered at this time.
Stories
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- State of Power: Exposing the Davos Class by Transnational Institute & Occupy (2014)
- The COP19 Guide to Corporate Lobbying: Climate crooks and the Polish government’s partners in crime by Transnational Institute & Corporate Europe Observatory (2013)
- The Curse of Coal: Our coal consumption causes diseases, pollution, and poverty in Colombia by DanWatch (2010)
Activism
Trade Unions Globally Protest Union-Busting ‘Green’ Company Ørsted
Marine Insight | September 20, 2023
Over 215 unions from 100 countries have signed an open letter to Mads Nipper, Group President and CEO of Ørsted, calling on Nipper to directly intervene and resolve the issues between Ørsted US and US maritime unions.
United Kingdom: Natural History Museum under fire for gagging clause with Danish oil sponsor
Wil Crisp | The Guardian | January 8, 2023
The clause was put into a contract with Dong Energy in 2016 when the company was heavily invested in oil and gas. Dong changed its name to Ørsted in 2017 when it divested of fossil fuels to focus on renewables.
United Kingdom: Orsted workers protest 'paltry pay offer' outside Danish embassy in London
Energy Voice | Hamish Penman | October 18, 2022
Offshore wind workers have taken to the streets after receiving a “paltry pay offer” from one of the world’s largest green energy firms. RMT members employed by Orsted are hoping the action outside the company’s headquarters and the Danish embassy in London will bring an end to the dispute.
United Kingdom: Ørsted's British offshore workers call strike for better wages
Energy Watch | September 14, 2022
Ørsted’s offshore personnel in the UK have called a strike in an attempt to secure fair wages and conditions, reports media offshorewind.biz. The Danish wind farm developer has declined an invitation to negotiate with the workers’ trade union, RMT, on the issue of higher wages, a demand spurred by rising inflation.
United Kingdom: Help victimised Orsted Worker Wayne Emmanuel
Crowdfunder | August 10, 2022
The actions of Orsted and its treatment of Wayne for raising legitimate Health and Safety concerns is absolutely appalling! The persecution he has faced has included withholding pay for nine months, ageist personal ridicule and refusal to incorporate reasonable adjustments after his treatment which has led to serious detriment in his mental health.
Ireland: Silent protest at wind farm information event today
Connie Duffy | Donegal Live | June 13, 2022
"Five thousand, two hundred and sixty-six people have already signed our petition opposing industrial wind turbines on our Natura2000 Gweebarra River SAC and no one we canvased locally in recent weeks was in favour of industrialising our small farming community," said a spokesperson this morning.
Ireland: Campaigners gather in Dublin to protest ‘unfair’ planning system
Jade Wilson | Irish Times | September 24, 2021
Patricia Sharkey came from Co Donegal to protest a plan by Danish company Ørsted to put 23 200-metre high wind turbines on the Gweebarra river. “It’s one of only 22 salmon rivers left in Ireland and it’s on peat bogs. We have so many protected species there that are just going to be wiped out – from pine martens, to red deer, red grouse, red squirrels and golden eagles. It’s one of the last wildernesses in Ireland and we have to protect it,” she said.
- DanWatch - Denmark
- European Public Service Union (EPSU)
- Greenpeace Denmark
- Gweebarra Conservation Group - Ireland
- International Dockworkers Council (IDC)
- International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA)
- International Transport Workers' Federation (ITWF)
- National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) - United Kingdom
- Transnational Institute (TNI)
- United Federation of Workers in Denmark (3F)
& Lawsuits
United States: Wind turbine lawsuit ruling could mean delays for wind farms
Chris Flood | Cape Gazette | September 22, 2022
A recent ruling by a federal court judge says General Electric cannot make or sell its Haliade-X turbine in the United States. It’s unclear if the ruling will cause delays in the build out for Ørsted’s Skipjack wind farm off Delaware’s coast. The Danish-based company had gotten permission from the Maryland Public Service Commission to use that type of turbine.
Probe Launched as Offshore Wind Turbine Parts Collapse into Sea in Denmark
Bartolomej Tomic | Offshore Engineer | April 8, 2022
An offshore wind turbine rotor with three blades detached from its nacelle and fell into the sea earlier this week at Ørsted's Anholt offshore wind farm in Denmark, spurring an investigation by the wind turbine maker Siemens Gamesa and wind farm developer Ørsted.
United States: Watchdog: CT Port group lacked authority to launch partnership tied to offshore wind hub
Keith M. Phaneuf | The CT Mirror | February 4, 2022
The Connecticut Port Authority launched a public-private partnership tied to development of a major offshore wind-to-energy project without proper authority to do so, the State Contracting Standards Board concluded Friday.
Orsted and RWE Fined Millions for Major UK Blackout
John Parnell | Greentech Media | January 3, 2020
Ørsted and RWE have been fined £4.5 million ($5.9 million) each for their part in a major U.K. blackout last August.
Danish audit office probes DONG Energy share sale
Charles Duxbury | Market Watch | September 15, 2016
At the time, the company said it needed new investment to continue a move into wind energy and in January 2014 sales of a 19% stake to Goldman Sachs for 8 billion Danish kroner ($1.2 billion), and smaller stakes to two pension companies, were agreed by the state.
Denmark: DONG says watchdog plans fine for reporting breach
Reuters | November 9, 2009
Denmark’s financial watchdog aims to demand fines against DONG Energy [DONG.UL] for failure to submit certain information to it, the Danish state-owned utility said on Monday.
Environmental Impacts
Coal from life-threatening South African mines used to help Denmark through the energy crisis
DanWatch | October 22, 2022
The cogeneration plants that supply Aalborg, Odense and Esbjerg with district heating currently import coal from South Africa. Ørsted also expects to import coal from South Africa to Smidstrupværket and Avedøreværket, which supply district heating to Aarhus and Copenhagen.
Energy giants return to fossil fuels like coal as Europe braces for winter
CNBC | October 4, 2022
“In order to ensure the security of the electricity supply, the Danish authorities have today ordered us to continue as well as resume operations at some of our oil- and coal-fired power stations,” Mads Nipper, the Orsted CEO, says.
United Kingdom: Ofgem reveals list of suppliers with fake renewable fuel mix claims
Dimitris Mavrokefalidis | Energy Live News | December 16, 2021
Suppliers who held insufficient REGOs and/or GoOs to support the proportion of renewable electricity they reported to supply were Eneco Energy Trade BV, ESB Energy, Gazprom Energy, Green Supplier Limited, HUB Energy, Orsted, Outfox the Market, People’s Energy, Pozitive Energy, Sinq Power, Symbio Energy, Vattenfall Energy Trading and Yü Energy.
United Kingdom: Ørsted contractor speaks out on 'potentially fatal' wind farm gas leak
George Lythgoe | The Mail | June 19, 2021
Last week a vessel belonging to the Ørsted windfarm off the coast of Walney had a carbon monoxide leak with readings ‘four times over the limit’, contractor Karl Scott said.
Ørsted bought carbon credits in fraudulent Russian project
Energy Watch | January 27, 2020
Eight Danish companies have contributed to climate change by purchasing CO2 compensation from scandalized chemical factories in Russia, according to a mapping performed by domestic newspaper Politiken of the companies' climate credit trading.
Denmakr: DONG Energy cars torched ahead of Copenhagen protest
Anna Ringstrom | Reuters | December 14, 2009
Arsonists set alight three cars belonging to DONG Energy on Monday, just hours ahead of a planned protest against the state-owned utility, as more than 190 nations meet in the city to agree a climate deal.
Dong Energy: 'Clean' Denmark's dirty secret
Fred Pearce | The Guardian | December 14, 2009
State-owned Dong Energy trades on its green image at home while outsourcing the dirty end of its energy portfolio with coal-fired power stations elsewhere in Europe.
& Relations
Ørsted CEO admits to errors during outset of Ukraine war
Energy Watch | June 23, 2022
Nipper holds that he made the first major error when he sent a written response to a media and merely addressed Ørsted’s contractual obligations with Gazprom. ”We came off as tone-deaf and somewhat indifferent to the war,” he says in the interview.
Denmark: Subsuppliers critique Vestas, Ørsted for sourcing towers from Asia
Jakob Martini & Signe Ferslev Pedersen | Shipping Watch | September 14, 2021
Green colossi such as Vestas and Ørsted come under critique for sidelining climate concerns in the pursuit of cutting costs.
United Kingdom: Fishermen accuse wind farm giant of bullying in compensation row
Sabrina Johnson | Eastern Daily Press | May 4, 2021
North Norfolk fishermen say they are fearful for their future, after Ørsted, the Danish energy giant behind Hornsea Project Three took out a High Court injunction to prevent them from temporarily fishing in certain areas while it carried out surveys.
Ørsted's Russian gas adventure drives away Siberian reindeer herders
DanWatch | August 12, 2020
The energy company Ørsted has for several years bought gas from Russia's Gazprom, which comes from a peninsula in Siberia. Here, gas fields and gas pipelines have displaced the original nomadic people and threaten the existence of the few remaining.
Black Lives Matter for Ørsted…Except in the Windfarm Workforce
Baird Maritime | June 12, 2020
But then one looks at Ørsted itself, a paragon of sustainable energy and a leader in offshore windfarms. It has an executive management team of seven, including Mr Poulsen, which is all white and all European, and a supervisory board of nine, which is also all white and all European (here).
Ørsted escalates conflict in Taiwan
Maz Plechinger | Energy Watch | January 21, 2019
The Danish energy company is formally suspending work on its offshore wind projects in Taiwan, including partnerships with local suppliers. The country's government downplays the significance of this move.
Goldman Sachs Just Ate Denmark for Breakfast
Jonas Schmidt Hansen | Truthout | June 16, 2016
Goldman Sachs stands to make a huge profit from the purchase of 19% of Denmark’s national energy company, Dong Energy, for 8 billion Danish kroner ($1.2 billion) two years ago. When Goldman bought it, the energy company was valued at $6.7 billion, a suspiciously low price.
Privatization: 200,000 Danish citizens battle against Goldman Sachs
Agnès Rousseaux | Basta! Media | February 4, 2014
The government has announced the investment of the US bank into the capital of the public energy company Dong Energy (the equivalent of Gaz de France before its privatization). The news has caused a strong reaction: 200,000 people (out of a population of 5 million) signed an online petition to protest the investment. Millions of protesters converged on Parliament on the 29th of January. Six ministers, members of the Popular Socialist Party, have resigned in protest, provoking a government crisis.
United Kingdom: Something rotten blows in
Bojan Pancevski | The Times | April 8, 2012
Last week Anders Eldrup, chief executive of Dong Energy, was forced to resign after it emerged that he had given unauthorised pay packages worth millions to a group of top executives — including the head of its lucrative British wind energy arm.
Denmark: Strike secures better wage deal at DONG Energy
European Public Service Union | July 12, 2007
In a period with extremely low unemployment and with profits, director and board wages all rising to previously unseen levels, the largely unskilled members with 3F demanded their share of the cake. A three-day wildcat strike underlined the workers frustrations. Shortly afterwards a local agreement was reached, which was worth €177 euros a month to 3F's members.
Financials
Click here for the latest list.
Political Influence
Open Secrets - Tracks corporate lobbying of US politicians.
OpenSecrets.org Profile of Ørsted
Import & Export Data
ImportYeti - Shipping Tracking Tool - Bill of ladings are public information that are too cost prohibitive, challenging to obtain and difficult to use for the average joe. ImportYeti's goal is to solve that problem.
- ImportYeti profile of Orsted
& Evasion
USA: New Jersey offshore wind opponents sue state and developer to block tax breaks
Kristen Mosbrucker-Garza | WHYY | August 1, 2023
New Jersey offshore wind opponents sued to block a recently approved state law that allows the Danish developer Orsted to keep lucrative federal tax credits rather than pass the savings on to ratepayers.
Ørsted to Fight Danish Taxation of Its UK Offshore Wind Farms
Adrijana Buljan | Offshore Wind Biz | December 2, 2020
The Danish Tax Agency has decided to tax Ørsted’s Walney Extension and Hornsea One offshore wind farms in the UK and the developer has now announced an appeal to this decision to the Danish Tax Appeals Agency.
Denmark’s largest opposition party wants to sell part of Ørsted to finance climate plan
Isabeau van Halm | Energy Monitor | October 31, 2022
In the run-up to the Danish elections, the political party Venstre proposed to sell the state’s share in clean energy giant Ørsted to finance their climate plans, raising questions about critical infrastructure.
United Kingdom: Sark: Wind farm firm suggests rat cull to protect seabirds
BBC | May 23, 2022
Energy firm Orsted said culling the predators could increase the birds' survival chances on the island and help maintain British Isles populations... "I am not a rat fan; I am against what seems to be complete greenwash."
Orsted to test breeding corals on Taiwan’s offshore wind farm
Taiwan News | May 6, 2022
Orsted will embark on an innovative initiative to grow corals on offshore wind turbine foundations in the waters of Taiwan this summer as it seeks to support biodiversity by restoring coral reef ecosystems threatened by climate change.
Procurement
CorpWatch is still gathering procurement data on Ørsted at this time.