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World's Largest Offshore Wind Developer to Invest $30 Billion in Green Energy

Lorraine Chow
Nov. 28, 2018 12:06PM EST
Offshore wind farm. Orsted

To save the world from climate catastrophe, the world needs to urgently phase out the use of fossil fuels.

On Wednesday, Danish energy company Orsted announced a major investment program as it seeks to become one of the "renewable majors" leading a global shift away from planet-warming fuels, Reuters reported.

Orsted, which built the largest offshore wind farm on Earth, plans to invest 200 billion Danish crowns ($30.26 billion) in green energy between 2019 and 2025, the firm said.

Offshore wind projects will receive 75-85 percent of the total investment, while onshore investments will receive the remaining 15-20 percent. Bioenergy and customer solutions will constitute 0 to 5 percent of the spending.

Overall, Orsted (formerly Dong Energy) seeks to bump its share of green energy production to 99 percent by 2025, up from 64 percent in 2017.

"Today, our portfolio consists of 11.9 GW (gigawatts) of offshore and onshore wind farms and biomass-fired combined heat and power plants that are either in production, under construction or have been given final investment decision," Henrik Poulsen, Orsted's CEO and president, said in a press release. "Towards 2030, it's our strategic ambition to reach an installed capacity of more than 30GW, provided that the build-out creates value for our shareholders," he added. "As an important step, we're raising our 2025 ambition for offshore wind from 11-12 GW to 15 GW."

Poulsen said the global market for renewable energy is expected to more than triple towards 2030.

In September, Orsted officially opened the world's largest offshore wind farm in the Irish Sea. The 659-megawatt Walney Extension, located approximately 19 kilometers (12 miles) off the coast of Cumbria, England, consists of 87 turbines and is capable of generating enough renewable energy to power almost 600,000 UK homes.

Offshore wind technology is rapidly advancing, and the Walney Extension is expected to lose its "world's largest" title to Orsted's Hornsea Project One off the UK's Yorkshire coast. The under-construction wind farm is expected to be fully operational by 2020 and will have a capacity of 1,200 megawatts, or enough power for more than one million UK homes.

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