Danish energy giant DONG Energy has announced this week that it will change its name to Ørsted following in the wake of last week’s announcement that it had successfully divested its oil & gas business.
DONG Energy has been steadily transitioning its business focus toward renewable energy technologies, specifically offshore wind development and battery storage. Originally rumored back toward the end of 2016, DONG Energy announced in May of this year that it had agreed to divest its upstream oil & gas business to London-based chemicals company INEOS for $1.05 billion.
Last week, DONG Energy confirmed that it had received regulatory approval to proceed with the divestment transaction, which would be completed on Friday 29th of September.
The company wasted no time in continuing its steady march towards a total focus on renewable energy, announcing on Monday that DONG Energy would change its name to Ørsted, saying that “the name DONG Energy does not fit the company anymore.”
“DONG was originally short for Danish Oil and Natural Gas,” explained Thomas Thune Andersen, Chairman of the Board of Directors. “With our profound strategic transformation and the divestment of our upstream oil and gas business, this is no longer who we are. Therefore, now is the right time to change our name.”
The company has therefore called an Extraordinary General Meeting for October 30 so it can put the decision to its shareholders.
“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,” said Henrik Poulsen, CEO of DONG Energy. “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.”
In the same way that DONG Energy stood for Danish Oil and Natural Gas, the new name similarly holds specific meaning for the company, referring to Danish scientist Hans Christian Ørsted who helped spearhead several scientific discoveries including that of electromagnetism in 1820.
“We’ve undertaken significant efforts to find the right name and brand identity for our company,” added. “Our new name recognises H.C. Ørsted’s curiosity, dedication and interest in nature and our brand identity speaks to the innovation and profound understanding of nature, which is vital to creating a world that runs entirely on green energy.”
From a financial point of view, DONG Energy’s transition from a fossil fuel-based company to a renewable energy company has been both sharply noticeable and profitable, reducing carbon emissions by 52% since 2006, as shown by the following series of graphs provided by DONG Energy.
“Today, we’re dedicated to green energy,” continued Henrik Poulsen. “Our focus going forward will be on green growth based on our existing business platforms in offshore wind, biomass, green customer solutions and advanced waste-to-energy solutions. We’ll also explore new green growth opportunities to strengthening our existing platform, if they support our vision, provide a strong competitive position and create value for our shareholders.”
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