Danish offshore wind company Ørsted revealed its target to become carbon neutral by 2025 and reach net-zero emissions across its entire supply chain by 2040, in line with the global ambitions set under the Paris Agreement.
On track to be carbon neutral in energy generation and operations by 2025, the company wants to cut energy trading and supply chain emissions in half by 2032 and then down to net-zero emissions by 2040.
It’ll be challenging to reach a carbon neutral footprint by 2040, and it’ll require significant innovation in all parts of our supply chain. Many of the green technologies to be used to decarbonise our supply chain exist but they’re not yet cost competitive. With the 2040 target, we want to help drive the necessary innovation forward to mature the green technologies in the industries that supply to us,
…Henrik Poulsen, CEO of Ørsted says.
Firstly, to decarbonise the supply chain, Ørsted is launching a programme to engage its strategic suppliers in the most carbon-intensive categories of the Ørsted supply chain: the manufacture of wind turbines, foundations, substations and cables.
These are produced using steel, aluminium and copper, among other materials, which are energy intensive to extract and manufacture.
The second largest source of supply chain emissions is the fossil fuels used by the maritime vessels that transport and install offshore wind components.
In its supplier engagement programme, Ørsted will ask its strategic suppliers to:
- disclose their own emissions and set science-based carbon reduction targets
- use 100% renewable electricity in the manufacture of wind turbines, foundations, cables, substations and components
- optimise their current vessel fleet and develop a roadmap to power vessels with renewable energy.
In addition, the company will encourage remaining suppliers to reduce the carbon impact of their goods and services and is strengthening the sustainability criteria in the company’s procurement tenders.
Ørsted’s carbon emission reduction targets are science-based targets approved by the non-profit Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
The SBTi has validated Ørsted’s targets and classified them as more ambitious than a well below 2°C trajectory. Moreover, the initiative has preliminarily concluded that Ørsted’s targets align with 1.5°C, with SBTi’s methodology to assess this alignment to be launched later in 2020.
Targets in Ørsted’s decarbonization programme
-By 2023: Phase out coal completely. Over the past decade, Ørsted has shut down three coal-fired power plants in Denmark. Power plants that play a key role in generating heat to Danish households and industry have been converted from coal to certified sustainable biomass. One remaining coal-fired power plant will be shut down by 2023.
-By 2025:
- Carbon neutral operations and energy generation.
- By phasing out fossil fuels and installing 20GW of renewable energy, carbon emissions will have been reduced by at least 98% by 2025, as compared with 2006.
- Continue to reduce carbon emissions beyond 98% by switching to a fleet of electric vehicles in the company car fleet, in line with the EV100 requirements, and finding other reduction opportunities in the energy generation and operations.
- Offset any residual emissions through verified, measurable and additional carbon removal projects.
-By 2030: Build more than 30GW of green energy across technologies – enough to power more than 55 million people.
-By 2032: Reduce emissions from energy trading and in the supply chain by 50%, as compared with 2018, to align carbon reductions across the entire carbon footprint with the 1.5°C pathway.
-By 2040: Carbon neutral footprint a decade ahead of the 1.5°C pathway by driving out remaining emissions from energy trading and from the supply chain.