The Danish utility DONG Energy will be staking its future on offshore wind aiming to triple its existing capacity, currently standing at 2GW installed off the coast of Denmark, to 6.5GW by 2020. At least 50 percent of the company's future investments will go towards offshore wind with another 40 percent invested in new oil and gas exploration and production - the company's traditional business. DONG will not, however, be committing itself to liquified natural gas (LNG), gas storage, onshore wind, hydro power, gas-fired and waste-fired plants or electric vehicles but it will be investing 3 to 3.5 billion crowns in conversion of its Danish fossil fuel power stations to wood pellets and wood chip biomass.
The move towards wind will set the company apart from many of its European competitors who have instead chosen to create separate units in order to pursue the development of renewables. In 2012 DONG's renewable energy portfolio stood at 30 percent and the company is now restructuring heavily in order to increase that figure to 50 percent.
"We see significant growth in offshore wind in the next 10-plus years and we are well-positioned to tap into that," Chief Executive Henrik Poulsen said. He added that the company's push into offshore wind will succeed because of its experience in building wind farms at sea and its knowledge of the supply chain.
DONG was founded in 1972 and merged with five other Danish companies in 2006. The state owns 80 percent of the company with another 11 percent owned by the consumer-owned energy group SEAS-NVE and 9 percent by public utilities and municipalities. It also works with utility Centrica in the UK and is part of the French offshore wind consortium led by EDF Energy and Alstom. The company opened the 630MW London Array in July, currently the world's largest offshore wind farm.
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