Key Impact Points:

• Five-time champion: Ørsted, once a carbon giant, grabs the top spot again in Corporate Knights’ 2024 Global 100 index for sustainable energy developers.
• Green ambition, real action: Ørsted’s commitment to renewables shows in its investments, decarbonization efforts, and community support initiatives.
• Tripling renewable capacity by 2030? Ørsted calls for sustainable expansion, urging governments and societies to unlock land and sea resources responsibly.
• Beyond the ranking: Ørsted boasts impressive accomplishments in 2023, from blue bonds for offshore biodiversity to low-carbon steel and green service vessels.

Renewable energy company Ørsted has been named the world’s most sustainable energy developer in Corporate Knights’ 2024 Global 100 index. To triple renewable energy capacity by 2030, we need to unlock more space at land and sea with support from governments and societies – a sustainable approach must be at the core of that journey, SVP says.

Ørsted was ranked the world’s most sustainable energy developer. The company was ranked number one among the 292 ‘power generating companies’ in Corporate Knights’ 2024 Global 100 index for the fifth time. Corporate Knights benchmarks a company’s sustainability performance against its usual peers and across sectors. 

Once a carbon-intensive company, Ørsted transitioned to renewables faster than any other major energy company. The company put sustainability at the core of its strategy as it became the global leader in offshore wind and is committed to a green transformation that benefits both nature and people. 

Ingrid Reumert, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Stakeholder Relations at Ørsted, says: “We’re happy to be recognised by Corporate Knights as the world’s most sustainable energy developer. Working seriously with sustainability requires ambition, thoroughness, and strong partnerships – and adds to our continued commitment to create a world that runs entirely on green energy.”

She continues: “World leaders at COP28 agreed to triple the global renewable energy capacity by 2030 – this will require a build-out of renewables at a pace and scale never seen before. Doing so in a sustainable way is both necessary for our planet and to secure the licence to operate by governments and societies. We’ll only be able to reach a tripling of renewables by 2030 if we gain community support, ease long-term raw material pressures in our supply chains, and unlock access to space to build at land and sea – sustainability is key in all of these endeavors.‘

Building green energy and doing it right
Ørsted is the world’s largest developer of offshore wind, with a portfolio of 8.9 GW in operation, and has a total installed renewable capacity of 15.7 GW. The company is building renewables across three continents; offshore wind, onshore wind, solar and Power-to-X projects are under construction and will provide access to green energy, benefiting businesses, private homes, and nature.  

In 2023, Ørsted made strides in decarbonisation, edging closer to delivering net-zero wind farms. The company issued the industry’s first blue bond, raising EUR 100 million to fund offshore biodiversity, and teamed up with UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business to advance the positive social impact of renewable energy projects. We procured low-carbon copper cables for the world’s single largest offshore wind farm, Hornsea 3 in the UK, thereby reducing the emissions from high-voltage power cables by nearly 50 %. We entered a large-scale supply agreement with Dillinger, our key steel manufacturer for foundations, to enable a shift towards low-emission steel production, and we signed a contract with ESVAGT to take on a second green service operation vessel. Ørsted also contributed to a World Economic Forum paper that lays out the foundations of a people-positive renewables build-out.  

Related Article: Young Visionaries Lead Singapore Towards a Sustainable Energy Future

Specifically related to the Corporate Knights ranking, Ørsted’s sustainable revenue share increased from 66 % to 73 % in 2022, and our sustainable share of CAPEX remained high at 99 %, reflecting that we direct all our investments to renewable energy projects. Our industry-leading decarbonisation efforts and transition to renewable energy were recognised, reflecting that Ørsted has reduced its scope 1-2 emissions by 87 % from 2006 to 2022 and is on track to completely phase out coal this year. We launched our climate advocacy report in 2023 to walk the talk and help build best practices and transparency on climate-related advocacy. Also, the increased ethnic and gender diversity in our top management positively influenced our ranking.