The short-term disruption to the energy transition caused by Europe’s post-Ukraine crisis was placed in stark relief as global green champion Orsted was told by Denmark to resume some oil- and coal-fuelled power operations.
The Danish authorities told Orsted to continue coal-fired operations at a unit of its Esbjerg Power Station that was due to close in March 2023.
Orsted was also ordered to resume coal and oil-based operations at two other plants in Studstrup and Kyndby that have already been mothballed.
The company said the mandate came as part of moves by Denmark to secure power supplies. While many predict that the energy crunch that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will accelerate the long-term shift to renewables, in the shorter term several European governments have delayed or reversed plans to exit fossil generation in order to underpin supplies this winter.
Orsted has become a global symbol of the green energy transition since it changed its name from Dong Energy in 2017 as part of a pivot away from oil and gas and enthusiastic embrace of first offshore wind – where it became an international pacesetter – and later onshore renewables and green hydrogen.
The Danish group was in 2020 named the world’s most sustainable company.
Denmark has told the company to keep the units running until mid-2024, allowing Orsted to keep it ambition for carbon neutral operations by 2025.
Orsted CEO Mads Nipper said: “We will, of course, comply with the Danish authorities’ order, and we'll now begin preparing and maintaining the units as well as securing the staffing necessary to operate them.
“We still believe that we, as a society, must phase out the use of gas, oil, and coal as soon as possible, but we're in the middle of a European energy crisis, and we will, of course, contribute to ensuring the electricity supply to the best of our ability."
