VIDEO: DONG Energy changes its name to Ørsted

DONG Energy currently has a 25% of the world offshore wind market

OCTOBER 2, 2017 — From November 6, Denmark’s DONG Energy, the world leader in deploying offshore wind facilities, is changing its name to Ørsted.

“DONG was originally short for Danish Oil and Natural Gas,” says 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.”

“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 U.K.,” said CEO Henrik Poulsen. “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.”

Why Ørsted?

“Almost 200 years ago,” says the company, “Hans Christian Ørsted discovered electromagnetism, effectively establishing the foundations for the way we produce power today.

Hans Christian Ørsted was born in Rudkøbing in Southern Denmark in 1777, becoming a professor in pharmacology in 1806. H.C. Ørsted’s tireless pursuit of answers led him to discover electromagnetism in 1820. His ground-breaking discovery helped pave the way for numerous technological advances, among them being electronic power production.

Throughout his life, H.C. Ørsted became an important figure within not only physics, but also within philosophy, poetry and aesthetics, establishing the Royal Danish Polytechnic Institute (today known as the Technical University of Denmark, DTU), becoming its first director in 1829.