Ørsted, a U.S. leader in clean energy, was honored this week by Texan by Nature as one of the top 20 companies leading sustainability and conservation efforts in the state. Texan by Nature was founded by former First Lady Laura Bush to unite environmental and business leaders to advance conservation efforts in Texas.

In 2019, TX By Nature started the TxN20, which is an effort to recognize the best work in conservation by businesses based in and operating within the state and has served as an opportunity to showcase innovation from a wide variety of industries. The honorees are selected based upon an established commitment to conservation and sustainability, as well as a demonstrated tangible impact of their conservation efforts.

“I’m happy to celebrate this year’s TxN 20! And I encourage other companies to follow their example and engage in conservation. Together, we can contribute to our prosperous economy, protect our rich natural resources, and ensure that Texas has a bright and beautiful future for our children and grandchildren to enjoy,” said former First Lady and Texan by Nature Founder, Laura Bush.

"Renewable energy development and protection of natural habitats are mutually supportive endeavors, two sides of the same coin,” said David Hardy, Group EVP and CEO Americas at Ørsted. “We’re committed to building our clean energy in a way that integrates land conservation, protects natural areas and ultimately enhances biodiversity. We look forward to building partnerships with Texan by Nature and other organizations that share this vision while advancing more clean energy projects in the Lone Star state.”

Earlier this year, Ørsted announced with The Nature Conservancy an agreement to conserve nearly 1,000 acres of native tallgrass prairie near the 471 MW Mockingbird Solar Center in Lamar County, TX. Ørsted is also restoring 40 acres of coastal prairie at a TNC preserve in Texas City, as well as 50 acres of a rare remnant of coastal prairie in Houston in partnership with the Native Prairie Association of Texas.

In addition to supporting prairie conservation and restoration efforts in Texas, Ørsted also contributed $100,000 to the Playa Lakes Joint Venture to help restore and conserve 500 acres of playas near Ørsted’s operating wind farms in West Texas. These early efforts will help inform and contribute to Ørsted’s global ambition of achieving net positive biodiversity impact at all clean energy projects starting in 2030.

To further its commitment to developing renewable energy projects in a sustainable manner, Ørsted also announced a new partnership with SOLARCYCLE this year to process and recycle solar modules from the company’s US projects. This partnership supports Ørsted’s first of its kind industry commitment to reusing or recycling 100% of all solar panels. In addition, Ørsted has purchased 10 electric vehicles and is installing charging stations at all Texas project sites. The purchased EVs will help offset an estimated 294,000 pounds of CO2 per year.

Ørsted currently has eight renewable energy projects operating in Texas and three additional Texas-based solar projects under construction. Once operating, these projects will generate a combined 3.5 GW of emission-free energy.