Ørsted, a business developing, constructing, and operating offshore wind farms, is named as a 2026 Finalist of The Earthshot Prize, the world’s most prestigious environmental award. It has been selected for completing one of the energy industry’s most significant transformations, moving from oil, gas and coal to become a global leader in offshore wind.
The Earthshot Prize, founded by Prince William in 2020, recognises solutions from different geographies, sectors and stages in their life cycle, dedicated to solving our planet’s greatest environmental challenges. Now past the halfway point of the Earthshot decade, The Earthshot Prize in 2026 is celebrating leadership from all corners of the globe, as people turn environmental ambition into action at scale.
Nominated in the Fix Our Climate Earthshot, Ørsted shows that a company originally built around fossil fuels can change its core business and become part of the climate solution. In 2006, the company - then known as DONG Energy - was one of Europe’s most coal-intensive utilities. It has since sold its oil and gas business, moved away from coal and pioneered offshore wind making it a major source of electricity for the planet.
As a 2026 Finalist, The Earthshot Prize will work with Ørsted to share the lessons of its transformation and connect policymakers, businesses, workers and communities around the role renewable energy can play in climate action, energy security and job creation, at a time when renewable power is now cheaper than fossil fuels in most markets.
Prince William, Founder and President of The Earthshot Prize, said: “Every year, our Finalists give me renewed optimism. They show us that, even as the environmental challenges remain urgent, extraordinary people around the world are already proving that progress is possible. Seeing solutions work gives us all confidence to act. When they succeed, they inspire others and accelerate change. I'm proud to welcome these 15 Finalists to the Earthshot Prize community and look forward to celebrating their stories in Mumbai this November.”
The energy sector remains one of the world’s largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions, while rising electricity demand and concerns about energy security are increasing pressure on countries to find cleaner sources of power at scale. Ørsted develops, builds and operates offshore wind farms, using strong and steady winds at sea to generate electricity at scale for homes and businesses.
The company built the world’s first offshore wind farm in Denmark in 1991 and now operates Hornsea 2 in the UK, the world’s largest operational offshore wind farm. Its transformation went far beyond adding a renewable division: Ørsted changed the centre of its business. Since 2006, it has cut Scope 1 and 2 emissions by more than 98% while continuing to invest, generate revenue and deliver energy.
Rasmus Errboe, Group President and CEO of Ørsted, said: "We're very proud to be named a Finalist for The Earthshot Prize - it's a testament to what our team has helped create over the past decades together with good partners and governments: an entirely new industry. We made a deliberate choice to shift our business from being one of Europe’s most fossil fuel intensive utilities to becoming the global leader of offshore wind that today powers millions of homes and businesses around the globe. It surely hasn’t been easy, and we still have to work hard every day to deliver secure, affordable and clean energy - and provide even more jobs to our communities. But this is what the world needs, and I hope our work can serve as inspiration for others."
Ørsted has installed more than11 GW of offshore wind, enough to power around 22 million homes of installed offshore capacity, and a further 7.2 GW under construction across Europe, the United States and Taiwan. In the UK, its 12 operational offshore wind farms generate more than 7% of the country’s electricity - enough renewable power for nearly six million homes.
The company is now delivering the largest offshore wind construction programme in its history. Borkum Riffgrund 3 in Germany just entered full commercial operations and will be followed by Greater Changhua 2b and 4 in Taiwan and Revolution Wind in the United States later this year. Construction also continues at Sunrise Wind in the US, and offshore work is underway at Hornsea 3 in the UK and Baltica 2 in Poland.
By 2028, Ørsted aims to complete its 7.2 GW construction programme, including Hornsea 3, which is planned to become the world’s largest offshore wind farm. From 2030 onwards, it also aims for every new renewable project it commissions to deliver a net-positive impact on biodiversity.
Ørsted is helping the world reach a positive tipping point – a threshold in a system beyond which change becomes self-propelling. Ørsted’s transformation is helping drive one of clean energy’s clearest tipping points: for solar and wind energy to overtake fossil fuels. Its work is especially significant given that solar and wind need to provide more than 60% of global electricity by 2030, helping make clean power the dominant source of electricity worldwide.
This year’s 15 Finalists were selected from The Earthshot Prize’s database of nearly 7,000 nominations across 169 countries, supported by a global network of over 363 nominators, and an Expert Advisory Panel of more than 150 specialists, alongside assessment and research by The Earthshot Prize’s selection team and partners.
They join a community of 75 Finalists supported since 2020, whose work has collectively avoided or captured more than 18 million tonnes of CO₂e, protected or restored 58 million hectares of land and 85 million hectares of ocean and coastline, removed or avoided 465,000 tonnes of waste, saved 21 million tonnes of water and improved air quality in regions home to 600 million people.
Aligned with the five Earthshots: Protect and Restore Nature, Clean Our Air, Revive Our Oceans, Build a Waste-Free World and Fix Our Climate - the Finalists will be considered by Prince William and fellow members of The Earthshot Prize Council, with five Winners announced at the 2026 Awards Night in Mumbai, India.
The Prize Council includes Prince William; Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah; Cate Blanchett; Indra Nooyi; José Andrés; Christiana Figueres; Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim; Wanjira Mathai; Nemonte Nenquimo; Gisele Bündchen; Luisa Neubauer; Naoko Yamazaki; Ernest Gibson; and Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
To find out more about this year’s Finalists, visit: https://earthshotprize.org/
