OSLO (Reuters) – Renewable energy group Orsted will invest 475 billion Danish crowns ($68.3 billion) by 2030 to achieve its goal of 50 gigawatts (GW) of installed power capacity at the end of the decade, it said late on Wednesday.
The Danish company said the plans were fully self-funded and that it expected to outperform goals set in 2021 for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) as well as for return on capital employed (ROCE).
“We’re on track to outperform our previous EBITDA and ROCE targets for 2020-2027, confirming the significant value in our portfolio of renewable projects,” Chief Executive Mads Nipper said in a statement.
Orsted, the world’s No. 1 offshore wind farm developer by gigawatt capacity, currently operates 15.5 GW of renewable energy assets. Capacity of 4.9 GW is under construction and projects representing another 10.6 GW have been awarded, it said.
Despite rising demand for green energy, the fast-growing offshore wind industry has been hit by cost inflation and rising interest rates.
Orsted said it was working to ensure sufficient value in projects where it had not yet made final investment decisions (FID), cooperating closely with suppliers to secure competitive prices.
The company’s share price has more than halved since peaking in January 2021.
($1 = 6.9523 Danish crowns)
(Reporting by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Essi Lehto and David Goodman)