Ørsted Receives the 2021 Sustainable Jersey Business Leadership Award

Sustainable Jersey presented Ørsted with the Sustainable Business Leadership Award. The annual award recognizes a company in New Jersey that has demonstrated a significant commitment to the core sustainability principles of people, planet and prosperity, along with strong support for values that the Sustainable Jersey program advances.

Davon McCurry, deputy head of government and market affairs for Ørsted, accepted the award at Sustainable Jersey’s Annual Luncheon in Atlantic City at the New Jersey League of Municipalities Conference. McCurry said, “We’re honored to receive this recognition from Sustainable Jersey. In just ten years, Ørsted transformed its business from one that depended on fossil fuels to a 100 percent clean energy business. We are deeply committed to not only producing green energy, but to building a more sustainable energy industry here in New Jersey and across the globe, as demonstrated by our 2040 net-zero commitment, which was validated by the Science Based Targets initiative.”

Ørsted ranks as the world’s most sustainable energy company in Corporate Knights’ 2021 Global 100 index of the most sustainable corporations and is recognized on the CDP Climate Change A List as a global leader on climate action. The company develops, constructs and operates offshore and onshore wind farms, solar farms, energy storage facilities and bioenergy plants. Ørsted is on track to becoming carbon neutral in energy generation and operations by 2025, making it the first major energy company to transform from fossil fuels and reach net-zero emissions.

Ørsted has been on the ground in New Jersey for more than five years, developing the state’s first offshore wind project –Ocean Wind 1, in partnership with PSEG. This project will deliver enough offshore wind capacity to power an average of 500,000 New Jersey homes. Earlier this year, the State of New Jersey selected Ørsted’s Ocean Wind 2 as part of the State’s second offshore wind solicitation. This project is poised to deliver over 1,148MW of offshore wind to the Garden State.

In addition, Ocean Wind 2 has committed $1 billion of in-state spending for workforce development to create new green jobs and build specialized manufacturing capabilities and is committed to creating good-paying union jobs from workforce hiring from areas most affected by climate change.

Randall Solomon, executive director of Sustainable Jersey said, “Ørsted is an outstanding example of how a company can take sustainability and community responsibility seriously and contribute locally to improving the quality of life in New Jersey. Wind offers a clean, renewable and local source of environmentally sustainable energy. Ørsted’s dedication to renewable energy in addition to its support of local projects that address environmental justice and STEM education reflects and contributes to the goals of the Sustainable Jersey program actions.”