沃旭（Ørsted）為全球最具永續性公司
據全球100企業統計，全球最具永續性的公司是丹麥再生能源公司—沃旭，原為「東能源」（formerly DONG Energy） 。作為海上離岸風能領域的全球領導者，根據全球百大最具永續性企業（2020年企業騎士指數）統計7,300多家，全球收入超過10億美元的公司，沃旭排名第1。
在全球100大榜單上名列前茅，是對沃旭在過去十年中從化石燃料轉向綠色能源，令人難以置信的高度認可。
12年前，沃旭被稱為東能源，它靠銷售熱電賺取了大部分收入，其中85%來自煤炭。 2009年，東能源宣佈一項重大戰略轉變：尋求再生能源產生85%的熱量和電力，直到2040年。它大量投資海上風電和逐步淘汰煤炭。到2019年，沃旭已成為世界上最大的海上風能生產商，並將再生能源發電量佔比提高到86%，等於超前21年達到進度。
它是如何做到的呢？
沃旭在2008-09年，制定了85/15的新戰略和願景，指出希望將其熱能和發電組合，從85%的傳統、15%的再生能源，更改為85%的再生能源、15%的常規發電組合。這一戰略願景反映了沃旭在30年內實現全面轉型的雄心壯志。
當時，儘管沒有人會認為在短短十年內，將沃旭的發電組合顛倒過來是可能的，但沃旭的管理階層專注於未來的成長領域：很明顯，一個是風力發電。
沃旭在波蘭和瑞典已經擁有相當數量的陸上風電項目組合，並參與了希臘和西班牙的專案。它還在丹麥和英國有早期運營專案和大型開發專案。
沃旭還有一個50-60人的團隊，從事可再生能源專案，特別是陸上風能；因此，它擁有大量的內部專業知識，以開發風力發電技術。
當時，沒有建造超過160兆瓦的海上風電專案。沃旭必須想辦法用不同的方式建設大型海上風電專案。它考驗沃旭的供應鏈和融資模式，結論是，它不可能單獨做到這一點。
另一個挑戰是安裝。為了解決這個問題，沃旭收購了 A2SEA 作為安裝供應商。（A2SEA是一家位於丹麥腓特烈西亞的海上風電場安裝和服務公司。該公司專門從事海上風電場的運輸，安裝和服務。除丹麥外，該公司還在英國和德國設有子公司。）它還需要與渦輪機、地基和電纜供應商建立牢固的合作夥伴關係。該公司與西門子建立了合作夥伴關係，其中包括提供500台3.6兆瓦渦輪機，這是當時西門子從未達成的最大能源協定。
沃旭花了30年把一個傳統化石燃料公司，變成擁有最好的運作燃煤發電廠和行業中的典範。這點，Henrik Poulsen 執行長功不可沒，同時，也跟天然氣價格的下降，影響其燃煤收入有關。
沃旭透過建立風力發電業務部門，開始實施新戰略。當時，有一群歐洲公用事業公司活躍在英國的海上風電領域，沃旭認為英國將是進行海上風電工業規模的正確所在。很幸運地，英國政府加強了對海上風電的支援，以幫助這些專案在財政上的可行性。
運用新型金融模式
沃旭需要能夠幫它提供資本和管理投資的金融合作夥伴，同時依靠沃旭在建設和營運海上風電專案方面的經驗。由於沃旭不想利用專案融資 — 許多融資投資者希望使用的首選融資機制 — 它開發了「耕種模式」（farm-down model）。
利用這種模式，沃旭可以資助其資產負債表上一半的項目，合作夥伴可以使用專案融資為其餘，提供資金。隨著在調試前進行耕種，沃旭為投資者提供了一站式方案 （turnkey project）產品，這將保護他們免受沃旭能夠最好地管理好開發、施工和運營風險的影響。 這種融資模式受到丹麥養老基金的歡迎，後來又受到荷蘭和加拿大養老基金和其他投資者的歡迎。
如果沃旭沒有開發耕種融資模式，它不可能資助歐洲的所有專案。這種金融創新 — 沃旭開創的「農場興市」模式 — 在業內得到了廣泛的應用。
沃旭走向再生能源的組織轉型
到2012年，沃旭的風電業務單位已經發展到數百名員工，為了支援新專案，它增加了所需的任何資源，導致效率低下，但它卻缺乏適當的組織結構和運作模式。Samuel Leupold 執行副總糾正了這一點，它引入了沃旭的第一個實際運營模式，建立了全球職能，明確專案治理，並建立了一個產品線組織，通過消除臨時或專案特定的採購，系統地降低了海上風電的成本。
在過去三年，沃旭為了打破大公司「各據山頭」的管理模式，建立了一個管理團隊論壇，每年舉行四次會議，討論其戰略和戰略推動（如人才和數位）。該論壇有助於公開討論，打破孤島，並在高級領導人之間建立強大的網路。
沃旭近年來的重大戰略
在過去三到五年中，沃旭採取的戰略步驟側重於將沃旭轉變為全球再生能源的主要參與者。首先，它剝離了其石油和天然氣業務，該業務幾乎完全集中在再生能源上。此外，2000年還投資改造了國內的熱電廠和發電廠，使它們能夠從煤炭轉向生質能。
因此，2023年預計退出煤炭，2025年發電量將實現碳中和，這是一個令人難以置信的成就。
2016年，該公司完成了首次公開募股 （IPO），而沃旭也因此成為上市公司。首次公開募股 （IPO） 為它提供了為公司成長提供資金所需的靈活性和獲得股權的機會。IPO也讓機構投資者和散戶投資者有機會參與其綠色轉型，同時銳化了沃旭作為可再生的純正形象。
在過去的幾年裡，沃旭重新進入陸上風能市場，並進入太陽能電和存儲等解決方案市場。
這些舉措將有助於使 沃旭的技術組合多樣化，以便滿足客戶需求。需要注意的是，沃旭一直在大規模地進入這些技術。例如，北美是陸上風能和儲存解決方案的大市場，沃旭正在那裡投資。沃旭所做的一切都反映了它創造一個完全依靠綠色能源運行的世界的願景。雖然海上風電有可能為全世界提供動力，但沃旭相信，更廣泛的技術組合，將支持沃旭更好地成長。
海上風電的領導者
沃旭打算繼續成為海上風電領域的全球領導者。在過去的兩到三年裡，海上風電已經從以歐洲為主的市場擴展到了全球市場。沃旭是第一個推動者，它是第一家在美國進行大規模海上風電的歐洲開發商，也是第一個進入台灣的外國海上風電商。
沃旭最近重組了海上風電業務，並建立了四個新區域。向不同的市場靠近，如擁有風力發電場。同時，沃旭希望保持其全球營運和 EPC（工程、採購、建築）職能部門提供的規模優勢、槓桿率和標準，以便與各地區密切合作。
海上風電是沃旭的主力，它是否會面臨失去海上風電領導地位的風險？例如，在浮動的海上風電中，它會隨著客戶需求的變化而作出反應。
「自我改造」已被證明是沃旭成功的關鍵。2006年，沃旭只是擁有石油和天然氣許可證的公司。然而，它通過六家國內能源公司的合併重塑了自己。在幾年後建立了一個風力發電業務部門，成為全球領導者。它成為一家上市公司，這不僅允許它更好地獲得資本，而且極大地提高了其形象。
In my previous article, I pointed out that ESG Investing has become the star of the investment community. Invesco’s Solar ETF and WilderHill Clean Energy ETF achieved the best returns amongst all ETF funds, returning 238% and 220%, respectively. And First Trust Green Energy Index ETF, returning 186%, is ranked #4. We now turn our attention to an ESG superstar – Ørsted – which recently entered into the biggest power purchase agreement (PPA) with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC) and is ranked by the Corporate Knights’ 2020 index of the Global 100 as the most sustainable company in the world.
Ørsted (formerly Dong Energy), the World’s Most Sustainable Company
While ESG Investing has attracted tremendous attention, the poster child of the world’s most sustainable company is the Danish renewable energy company Ørsted (formerly Dong Energy until October 31, 2017), according to the Global 100. The global leader in offshore-wind energy, Ørsted outperformed more than 7,300 global companies with billion-dollar revenues to rank #1 in Corporate Knights’ 2020 index of the Global 100 most sustainable corporations in the world. Topping the Global 100 list is a recognition of Ørsted’s incredible and successful strategic and fundamental business transformation from fossil fuels to green energy over the past decade.
Only twelve years ago, Ørsted was called DONG Energy, and it earned most of its revenues by selling heat and power, 85% of which came from coal. In 2009, it announced a major strategic shift: DONG Energy would seek to generate 85% of heat and power from renewable sources by 2040. It invested heavily in offshore-wind and phased out coal. By 2019, Ørsted had become the world’s largest producer of offshore-wind energy and raised its renewable-generation share to 86% -- hitting its target 21 years ahead of schedule. How did this happen?
In 2008-09, DONG Energy formulated a new strategy and vision called 85/15, stating that it wanted to change its heat and power generation mix from 85% conventional, 15% renewable to 85% renewable, 15% conventional. This strategic vision reflected DONG Energy’s ambition to conduct a complete turnaround of its generation mix in one generation (30 years). At the time, although no one thought it was possible to turn DONG Energy’s generation mix upside down within only ten years, DONG Energy’s management focused on what its future growth areas should be: areas where it had critical mass, the right competencies, and could differentiate itself. It became clear that one was wind power.
DONG Energy already had a sizable portfolio of onshore wind projects in Poland and Sweden and had been involved in projects in Greece and Spain. It also had early-stage operating projects in Denmark and the UK and large-scale development projects. These portfolios gave it the critical mass in wind when it formulated its vision. DONG Energy also had a team of 50-60 people working on renewable-energy projects, especially onshore-wind; thus, it had substantial in-house expertise to develop wind power technology-wise.
Overcoming Challenges to Achieve Strategic Shift
At the time, no offshore-wind project larger than 160 megawatts had been built. DONG Energy had to figure out how to build large-scale offshore-wind projects in a different way. It involved a 360-degree review of DONG Energy’s supply chain, competencies, and financing models. It concluded that it could not do it alone.
One challenge was installation. To address this issue, DONG Energy acquired A2SEA as an installation supplier. It also needed strong partnerships with suppliers of turbines, foundations, and cables. It entered into a partnership with Siemens which includes delivering 500 3.6 megawatt turbines, which at the time was one of the largest energy agreements Siemens had ever made.
Overcoming the internal pressure to keep DONG Energy the same was even more monumental, as it had just spent three decades (one generation) turning the company into a traditional fossil-fuel company with the best running coal-fired power plants and a benchmark for the industry. Employee skepticism was pervasive and deep; however, this receded after Henrik Poulsen joined as CEO and DONG Energy experienced financial difficulties due to the drop in gas prices which affected coal-fired installations that it had.
DONG Energy began implementing the new strategy by establishing a wind-power business unit. A group of European utilities was active in UK offshore-wind at the time, and
DONG Energy thought that UK would be the right place to pursue offshore-wind projects at industrial scale. Fortuitously, the UK government strengthened its support for offshore-wind to help make these projects financially viable and this turbocharged DONG Energy’s strategic shift.
Financing Dong Energy’s Strategic Transformation with New Financial Model
Dong Energy needed financial partners that could deliver capital and manage their investments while relying on Dong Energy’s experience in constructing and operating offshore-wind projects. Since Dong Energy did not want to use project financing -- the preferred financing mechanism many of its financing investors wanted to use -- it developed the “farm down” model. Using this model, Dong Energy could fund its half of a project on its balance sheet and partners could use project financing to fund the rest.
With farm-downs happening before commissioning, Dong Energy provided investors with turnkey project offerings, which would protect them from development, construction, and operating risks which Dong Energy can manage best. This financing model was well received by the Danish pension funds and later by Dutch and Canadian pension funds and other investors.
Had Dong Energy not developed the farm-down financing model, it could not have funded all the projects in Europe. This financial innovation – the “farm down” model that Dong Energy pioneered – became widely used in the industry.
Dong Energy’s Organizational Transformation as It Shifted toward Renewables
By 2012, Dong Energy’s wind-power business unit had grown to hundreds of employees, but it was still working like a start-up. To support new projects, it added whatever resources were needed, which led to inefficiencies, but it lacked a proper organizational structure and operating model. Samuel Leupold, EVP, corrected that by introducing Dong Energy’s first real operating model, establishing global functions, clear project governance, and a product-line organization that systematically reduced the cost of offshore-wind electricity by eliminating ad hoc or project-specific sourcing and procurement.
During the past three years, Ørsted has also cultivated a “one company” approach spanning its business units. For instance, it has established a management-team forum consisting of all EVPs and SVPs who meet four times a year to talk about its strategy and strategic enablers such as talent and digital. That forum facilitates open discussions to break silos, align Orsted’s approach, and build a strong network among senior leaders. In addition, Ørsted has reestablished its leadership-forum meetings for its top 400 leaders.
Ørsted’s Significant Strategic Moves in Recent Years
The strategic steps Ørsted has taken during the past three to five years have focused on turning Ørsted into a global renewable-energy major player. First, it divested its oil and gas business, which concentrated its business almost entirely on renewables. Moreover, Ørsted also invested in the conversion of its domestic heat and power plants, enabling them to move away from coal toward biomass. As a result, Ørsted will exit coal in 2023, and its power generation will be carbon neutral in 2025, an incredible achievement.
In 2016, it completed its IPO, and DONG Energy, which it was still called at the time, became a publicly listed company. The IPO provided it with the flexibility and access to equity that it need to fund growth. The IPO also gave institutional and retail investors an opportunity to take part in its green transition, while sharpening Orsted’s profile as a renewable pure-play.
Within the past couple of years, Ørsted has reentered the onshore-wind market and moved into solar PV and storage solutions markets. These moves will help diversify Ørsted’s technology mix so it can better meet the demands of its customers. What is important to note is that Ørsted has been moving into these technologies at scale. North America, for example, is a large market for onshore-wind and storage solutions, and Ørsted is investing there. Everything Ørsted does reflects its vision to create a world that runs entirely on green energy. And while offshore-wind has the potential to power the world, Ørsted is convinced that a broader technology mix will support the growth of Ørsted even better.
Ørsted’s Growth Opportunities as the Offshore-Wind Leader and Its Strategies
Ørsted intends to remain the global leader in offshore-wind. In the past two to three years, offshore-wind has expanded from a predominantly European market to a global market. Ørsted has been a first mover as that shift has occurred. It is the first European developer that went into large-scale offshore-wind in the US. It is also the first foreign offshore-wind developer to enter Taiwan. Within a few years, it has developed sizable project portfolios in both markets.
To support its growth, Ørsted recently reorganized our offshore-wind business and established four new regions. Moving closer to different markets is important for navigating their development. It also helps with commercial matters like owning wind farms. At the same time, Ørsted wants to keep the scale advantages, leverage, and standards that its global operations and EPC [engineering, procurement, construction] functions deliver, and so they work closely with its regions.
How Ørsted Plans to Remain a Leader in the Energy Sector
Is Ørsted at risk of losing its leadership position in the offshore-wind, considering that bottom-fixed offshore-wind is its bread and butter? Ørsted does not want to miss out on major developments—for example, in floating offshore-wind and will respond as the needs of its customers change.
The ability to reinvent itself has proven to be the key to Ørsted’s success. In 2006, DONG Energy consisted of some oil and gas licenses. Then it reinvented itself through the merger of six domestic energy companies. A few years later, the company reinvented itself again by establishing a wind-power business unit that became a global leader within a few years. Then, it became a public-traded company, which not only allows it to better access capital, but also raises its profile tremendously.
Scanning new horizons and spotting new business areas are essential to Ørsted’s strategy and its ambition to become a global renewable-energy major player. And there is every reason to believe that Ørsted will be able to do so – more so than any other energy company – as its continual move up in the Global 100 ranking has shown: 70th in 2018, 4th in 2019, and 1st in 2020.
The only risk I can see is the disruption caused by the resignation of its CEO, Henrik Poulsen, effective January 31, 2021. The transition appears to be orderly and well executed, as it was announced mid last year on June 15, 2020. This gives the Ørsted Board of Directors ample time to recruit from outside or promote from within. This is a sign of good board governance, which is the “G” in ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance).
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