In 2009, the Danish conglomerate DONG Energy, whose name still stood for Danish Oil and Natural Gas, was planning to build a new coal-fired power plant on the German Baltic coast. Today, the same company, operating under the name Ørsted, is the world leader in offshore wind energy, accounting for approximately 30 percent of the global offshore wind market. This is one of the fastest and most radical transformations in the history of the energy industry – from black coal to green energy in just one decade.
Ørsted was founded in 2006, when the Danish state-owned oil and gas company DONG (Dansk Olie og Naturgas) merged with several energy companies to create a new entity – DONG Energy. In its early years, the company remained true to its roots – the name still stood for Danish oil and gas, and its operations were based primarily on extracting hydrocarbons from the North Sea floor and on generating energy from coal and gas.
In 2010, nearly half of the conglomerate’s profits came from oil and gas extraction or from thermal activities based on fossil fuels. Around 70 percent of its power plants burned coal, gas or oil, making DONG one of the most emission-intensive energy systems in Europe. It was then, in 2009, that the company stood at a crossroads. It was planning to build a new coal-fired power plant on the German Baltic coast, but encountered protests from environmentalists who paraded through central Copenhagen with a giant „coalosaurus” – an inflatable dinosaur with a black chimney, meant to symbolise the outdated, coal-based energy model.
This protest, however, was not the only sign that something had to change. In 2009, the COP15 climate conference was held in Copenhagen, and the irony of the situation – a climate conference in a country with one of the most emission-intensive energy systems – did not escape public opinion or the decision-makers themselves. At the same time, economic conditions were changing – natural gas prices were falling, and climate awareness was growing, causing DONG’s credit rating to begin to decline. These three factors – social pressure, political pressure and a deteriorating financial situation – forced the management to make a decision that would forever change the company’s fate. In 2009, the company announced the cancellation of plans to build a coal-fired power plant and unveiled a programme to reverse the energy mix from 85 percent fossil fuels to 85 percent renewable sources within one generation. What was supposed to take two decades was achieved in just ten years.
Offshore wind as the new direction
The key to the success of DONG’s transformation was the risky but ultimately brilliant decision to concentrate all efforts on offshore wind energy. In 1991, Denmark, in cooperation with Danish companies, launched the world’s first offshore wind farm at Vindeby, which was a pioneering achievement but still experimental in nature.
Over the years, DONG Energy gradually built competencies in this area, but it was only after 2009 that offshore wind became an absolute strategic priority. The company began selling fossil fuel-related assets and invested the proceeds in developing offshore wind farms across Europe.
Initially, these investments were not profitable – the cost of generating energy from offshore wind farms was twice as high as from onshore ones. DONG Energy, however, decided to consistently reduce costs by optimising every aspect of wind farm construction and operation. The company invested in larger turbines, improved installation processes and developed its own supply chains. As a result, within just a few years, it managed to significantly reduce the cost of offshore wind energy production, making the technology competitive with conventional sources.
In 2017, DONG Energy was able to announce that offshore wind had become cheaper than „black energy”, which was a symbolic confirmation that its chosen strategy was correct.
In 2010, the company had only a small amount of offshore wind capacity, but by 2020 it had developed projects with a total capacity of nearly 8 GW – an eightfold increase in a decade. This aggressive expansion allowed DONG Energy to overtake all competitors and become the undisputed market leader. By 2019, Ørsted controlled approximately 30 percent of the global offshore wind market, with farms in Denmark, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and Taiwan. By 2025, the company had 10.2 GW of installed offshore capacity and 8.1 GW under construction.
The name change as a symbol of breaking with the past
A breakthrough moment in the transformation story was the name change. In October 2017, DONG Energy announced that from 6 November that year it would operate under a new name – Ørsted. The new name was taken from the Danish physicist Hans Christian Ørsted, who in 1820 discovered electromagnetism, laying the foundations for modern electricity generation. The choice of this name was no accident – it was meant to symbolise a break with the fossil fuel past and a new beginning in the field of green energy.
The name change was part of a broader strategy that included a complete exit from the fossil fuel business. In 2017, DONG Energy finalised the sale of its oil and gas exploration and production division to the British company Ineos for 1.3 billion dollars. The transaction covered 430 employees and was the final step in the process of completely separating from the fossil fuel sector. Thus, the acronym DONG, which stood for Danish Oil and Natural Gas, became obsolete. The new name and new business model met with broad support from investors, as confirmed by the company’s stock market debut in 2016 – the initial public offering on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange, valued at 15 billion dollars, was then the second largest in the world.
The scale and pace of transformation
The pace of DONG Energy/Ørsted’s transformation was unprecedented on a global scale. In 2010, over 70 percent of the company’s generating capacity was based on coal, gas and oil. By 2017, at the time of the name change, these proportions had been reversed – over 70 percent of capacity already came from renewable sources.
By 2020, the company aimed to reach a level where 90 percent of its capacity would come from clean sources: biomass, waste, and onshore and offshore wind farms. This transformation translated into a dramatic reduction in emissions – CO₂ emissions from energy and heat production were expected to fall sevenfold, from around 350 grams per kilowatt-hour in 2010 to around 50 grams in 2020.
By 2024, 91 percent of Ørsted’s profits were aligned with the EU taxonomy for sustainable activities, and in the same year, the company closed its last coal-fired power plant. This marked the definitive end of the coal era in the company’s history.
In 2025, Ørsted delivered strong operational results, increasing generation from offshore wind by 6 percent compared to 2024, and the group’s total operating profit reached 25.1 billion Danish kroner, approximately 3.4 billion euros. In the first quarter of 2026, the company produced more renewable energy than ever before, with offshore wind generation increasing by 27 percent compared to the same period in 2025.
Projects that are changing the world
Ørsted’s project portfolio includes some of the world’s largest offshore wind farms. Hornsea 2, completed in 2022, was the world’s largest wind farm with a capacity of 1.4 GW, powering over 1.4 million British homes. Hornsea 3, currently under construction, is set to replace Hornsea 2 as the world’s largest farm, with a planned capacity of approximately 2.9 GW. The 8.5 billion pound project involves the installation of hundreds of monopile foundations and will make a significant contribution to UK energy security. Hornsea 4, with a planned capacity of 2.4 GW, was however cancelled in May 2025 due to rising costs and market challenges.
In Poland, Ørsted is developing the Baltica project, one of the largest offshore wind programmes in the Baltic Sea. As part of a joint venture with PGE, Ørsted is developing Baltica 2 and Baltica 3 with a combined capacity of 2.5 GW. Baltica 2, with a capacity of 1.5 GW, is scheduled to be commissioned by the end of 2027, and Baltica 3, with a capacity of 1 GW, by the end of 2029. In May 2026, the company began installing foundations for Baltica 2, marking the project’s entry into a key construction phase. Together, these farms are expected to supply clean energy to nearly 4 million Polish households.
The biggest challenge in its history. The crisis in the offshore wind market
Despite its spectacular success, Ørsted faced its most serious crisis since the transformation in 2025 and 2026. In January 2025, the company recorded an asset impairment of 1.6-1.7 billion euros due to growing challenges in the US offshore wind market. In August 2025, Ørsted’s shares fell by 85 percent compared to their 2021 peaks, reflecting a broader crisis in the industry. In response to the difficult situation, the company announced a workforce reduction of 2,000 employees by 2027, focusing on its core offshore wind business in Europe.
In May 2025, Ørsted decided to cancel the Hornsea 4 project in the United Kingdom, concluding that further financial commitment was unjustified, and that withdrawal would entail losses of around 838 million euros. In February 2026, the company sold its entire European onshore business (wind farms, solar farms and energy storage) to the Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners fund for 1.44 billion euros. The transaction covered installations with a total capacity of 578 MW, projects under construction with a capacity of 248 MW, and a development portfolio in four countries. Total proceeds from the asset sale programme amounted to 6.1 billion euros, exceeding the original target by over 1.4 billion euros.
These actions were part of a broader recovery plan, which also included an emergency share issue. The aim was to ensure financial stability in 2025-2027, during which the company continues to implement key offshore wind projects. Despite these challenges, Ørsted reported an EBITDA from offshore wind of 7.5 billion Danish kroner in the first quarter of 2026, an increase of 1.2 billion kroner compared to the first quarter of 2025. The company continues to maintain its financial forecasts for 2026.
What next for Ørsted? Focus on offshore wind as the path to recovery
Recent events show that Ørsted, while still the leader in offshore wind, must adapt to new market realities. The company has shifted its strategy from aggressive expansion to a more cautious, focused approach. In 2026, Ørsted is concentrating on European offshore wind, selling assets in other segments to concentrate capital on its core business. The company has committed to reducing the cost of offshore wind energy by 30 percent by 2040, which is intended to restore profitability to the industry after years of rising costs.
In the face of crisis, Ørsted remains a symbol that the energy transition is possible, but it is not without risk. The company’s history shows that even the most successful business model transformation does not protect against market fluctuations and rising costs. What seemed an unquestionable success just a few years ago now requires another, albeit less spectacular, transformation – from expansion to consolidation.
As the old saying goes: „Success has many fathers, while failure is an orphan.” In Ørsted’s case, both the success and the current challenges have their authors – those who made the decision to bet everything on offshore wind, and those who today must manage the consequences of that decision in a changed market environment. One thing is certain – Ørsted’s story has permanently inscribed itself in the annals of the energy transition as an example of how quickly and radically an entire industry can be transformed when courage, consistency and the ability to adapt to changing conditions are at play.
Photo: Ørsted
