COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Denmark's Orsted (CO:ORSTED) will invest $30 billion (24 billion pounds) in green energy up to 2025, it said on Wednesday, as it seeks to become one of a handful of future "renewable majors" leading a global transition from fossil fuels to green energy.
Orsted, the world's largest offshore wind developer, said it would have 15 gigawatt (GW) of offshore wind power capacity by 2025. Last year, it had said it aimed to have 11 to 12 GW by the end of 2025.
It plans to further double capacity by 2030 to more than 30 GW.
"We expect the global market for renewable energy to more than triple towards 2030," Chief Executive Henrik Poulsen said in a statement.
Core markets are Germany, the UK and Denmark but Orsted is seeking to expand in Taiwan and the United States. Earlier this year it bought U.S.-based offshore wind firm Deepwater Wind LLC and U.S. onshore wind developer Lincoln Clean Energy.
"It's our ambition to create a leading North American company within renewable energy," Poulsen said.
Of its total investments of 200 billion Danish crowns (24 billion pounds), offshore wind will constitute 75 percent to 85 percent, while the remaining 15-20 percent is expected to go into onshore wind farms.
Orsted said it would stick to a plan to increase annual dividends by a high single-digit percentage compared to the previous years, and that this policy would apply until 2025.