We believe that renewable energy projects must have a net-positive biodiversity impact. This is because biodiversity loss (birds, bats, marine life, etc.) presents a potentially devastating threat to society. We depend on diverse, healthy ecosystems for the air we breathe, the food we eat, our economic prosperity, and for limiting climate change and protecting those communities most at risk from the extreme weather events it causes. One of the most important ways to protect biodiversity is to limit climate change, a major, growing driver of biodiversity loss. This can only be achieved by reducing emissions, most significantly through the global shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
Meanwhile, protecting and restoring natural habitats can help us meet our climate goals and protect communities from the impacts of climate change. This means that when we build renewable energy infrastructure, we should go further than mitigating direct impacts on local ecosystems – we need to help enhance and actively restore biodiversity within these environments. At Ørsted we have the ambition to only generate renewable energy, and to do so with a net-positive impact on biodiversity.
We however do not have all solutions ready to actually realize that ambition today, even though it is at the heart of our organization to deliver on this promise. We need creative minds to help solve this challenge, and would like to ask you to help us:
How would you generate renewable energy in a responsible and net-positive way?
We are looking for nature-based design solutions that can be installed at our (future and/or existing) renewable energy generation sites that enable biodiversity to thrive. The solution must have a positive impact on biodiversity while considering large-scale application, affordability and customizability to support native/local species in different regions.
We are constantly on the lookout for young talent. If you are interested in an (graduation) internship with Ørsted, please join this challenge and let us know!
Ørsted stands for a world that runs entirely on green energy Ørsted is the market leader in the field of offshore wind farms and Ørsted has the knowledge and experience to help the Netherlands with the energy transition. We take concrete action and provide sustainable energy solutions to realize our vision - to create a world that runs entirely on green energy. Borssele 1&2 is our first offshore wind farm in the Netherlands. The wind farm is fully operational and with a capacity of 752 MW of green energy, this wind farm can keep one million Dutch households running. In addition to wind at sea, we are also developing green hydrogen. Green hydrogen is needed to reduce CO2 emissions from Dutch industry. With green hydrogen we can run various industrial processes on green energy. The coming decade will be crucial: green hydrogen must be scaled up and costs must be reduced.