Danish state-controlled firm Dong Energy will change its name to Ørsted. The company said the new name will better reflect its renewables business.
Dong is an abbreviation of Dansk Olie og Naturgas (Danish Oil and Natural Gas), but given Dong sold off its upstream fossil assets to Ineos, is no longer appropriate for the world’s largest offshore wind company.
However, the the firm said it will continue to trade and sell gas to customers, as it remains an important transitional fuel while energy storage matures. Outlining the name change, Dong underlined its belief that storage will help enable a “world that runs entirely on green energy”.
The name change takes effect 6 November and is in homage to Danish scientist Hans Christian Ørsted (1777-1851). Ørsted spearheaded several scientific discoveries, including the discovery of electromagnetism in 1820.
Announcing the rebrand, chairman of the board, Thomas Thune Andersen, said:
“Our vision is a world that runs entirely on green energy. Climate change is one of the most serious challenges the world faces today, and to avoid inflicting serious harm to the global ecosystems, we need to fundamentally change the way we power the world – from black to green energy.”
Dong Energy CEO Henrik Poulsen said:
“2017 will be remembered as the year when offshore wind became cheaper than black energy, as demonstrated by the recent tenders for offshore wind in Germany and the UK. It has never been more clear that it is possible to create a world that runs entirely on green energy. The time is now right for us to change our name to demonstrate that we want to help create such a world.”
Dong operates six offshore wind farms in the UK (Barrow, Burbo Bank, Gunfleet Sands, Walney, Westermost Rough and West of Duddon Sands) and holds a 25 per cent stake in both the London Array and Lincs offshore wind farms.
It is also building the 1.2GW Hornsea One scheme, aiming to complete by 2020.
The Danish state owns 50.1 per cent of the company.
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