TIDMORSTED 
 
 
   Following the outbreak of COVID-19, we activated our Corporate Crisis 
Management Organisation, which is headed by the Executive Committee and 
chaired by CEO Henrik Poulsen, to steer Ørsted through the 
unfolding global crisis. 
 
   Our first priority is the health and well-being of our employees and 
their families and the communities we are a part of. We closely follow 
the situation in the markets in which we operate and implement national 
guidelines and regulations. This includes preventive measures such as 
travel and commute restrictions, working from home, splitting of teams, 
quarantine policy for infected and potentially infected employees, and 
enhanced hygiene at all locations. We have instructed and encouraged all 
employees to be disciplined in following all preventive measures. 
 
   We will implement further measures as deemed necessary, and in 
accordance with the development of local authorities' guidelines. 
 
   Ørsted plays a key role in supplying the energy which societies 
depend on. Ørsted's operational and financial situation remains 
stable. We maintain continuity in all business-critical operations even 
with the extensive preventive measures being implemented, including a 
large number of employees working from home. In particular, please note 
that: 
 
 
   -- our asset base is fully operational at availability rates within the 
      normal range 
 
   -- we continue to meet our heating and electricity supply obligations 
 
   -- our construction projects are all progressing according to plans 
 
   -- due to our extensive hedging programme, we remain largely shielded in the 
      short to medium term from the current extreme market volatility and see 
      limited risk of being materially impacted by decreasing gas and power 
      prices as well as volatile currency rates 
 
   -- our liquidity reserve is sized to support our significant investments in 
      renewable energy projects. We currently have more than DKK 30bn in 
      liquidity reserves (cash, cash equivalents, and committed facilities), 
      which can support our operations and construction programmes through 2020 
      and 2021 without further funding. 
 
 
   We remain vigilant about the unfolding global crisis and see the 
following risks potentially impacting our activities: 
 
 
   -- Travel restrictions and quarantined employees may impact our ability to 
      keep our site operations and our internationally staffed service 
      operation vessels fully manned. This may over time impact the 
      availability of wind farms. However, we see no COVID-19-related impact on 
      availability so far. 
 
   -- Travel restrictions and quarantines may impact our suppliers' delivery of 
      critical components to projects currently under construction. We are in 
      close contact with all key suppliers and monitor the situation daily. Our 
      construction projects continue to progress according to plan and with 
      embedded contingencies that, to a certain extent, can mitigate potential 
      delays. And currently, we do not see any permits, consents, tax credits, 
      offtake agreements, etc., in relation to our construction projects being 
      at risk due to delays. 
 
   -- Our combined heat and power plants in Denmark remain fully operational. 
      Supply logistics remain stable and we are approaching the end of the 
      heating season, so we see little risk of not being able to honor our 
      heating supply commitments. 
 
   -- The negative economic impact of the global crisis increases credit risk 
      on key suppliers, counterparts, and customers. However, the majority of 
      our income is rooted in strong investment grade state-owned or 
      state-guaranteed entities and, to a lesser extent, utilities and 
      corporates, which is why we assess the credit risk as being contained. 
      Furthermore, a significant proportion of our trading activities is 
      conducted on a collateralised basis. The policy responses seen in our 
      core markets will help mitigate the risk of default among suppliers and 
      customers. 
 
   -- In the most affected markets, the crisis has led to a decline in the 
      demand for power. So far, power demand in our core markets is much less 
      affected, and we cannot detect any changed pattern in the occurrence of 
      negative wholesale power prices. In a scenario with more subdued power 
      demand, we could potentially see an increase in the number of hours with 
      negative prices, but as we are partly compensated, we assess the overall 
      impact to be limited. 
 
   -- As to our development pipeline, we remain dependent on public authorities 
      to progress the permitting and consenting of awarded projects and 
      development sites, and to progress the development of regulatory 
      frameworks, including tenders and auctions. Such processes could be 
      exposed to risk of delays due to travel restrictions, people working from 
      home, and government stakeholders being occupied by crisis management. 
 
   -- Likewise, our signed divestments could be at risk of delays as approval 
      processes must be conducted virtually. However, all divestments remain 
      well in progress and we expect potential delays to have limited impact. 
 
 
   While we recognise the significantly increased global uncertainty, our 
business model remains resilient, our operations remain stable, and we 
maintain our financial guidance for 2020. 
 
   To continue to manage the COVID-19 situation, we will keep our Corporate 
Crisis Management Organisation in place for the time being. We will 
provide updates to the market if we see material changes to the current 
situation. If not sooner, we will provide the next update in connection 
with the release of our Q1 report on 29 April 2020. 
 
   Conference call 
 
   In connection with the publication of this company announcement, a 
conference call for investors and analysts will be held on Wednesday 25 
March 2020 at 15:00 CET. 
 
   Denmark: + +45 32 71 49 98 
 
   UK: + 44 0800 408 7373 
 
   US: + 1 877 890 2416 
 
   International Access Numbers: www.speakservecloud.com/dial-in-numbers 
 
   Room number: 233127 
 
   Participant PIN: 8564 
 
   The conference call can be followed live at: 
 
   https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/mqrzagn6 
 
   For further information: 
 
 
 
 
 
   Media Relations 
 
   Martin Barlebo 
 
   +45 99 55 95 52 
 
 
 
   Investor Relations 
 
   Allan Bødskov Andersen 
 
   +45 99 55 79 96 
 
   The Ørsted vision is a world that runs entirely on green energy. 
Ørsted develops, constructs and operates offshore and onshore wind 
farms, solar farms, energy storage facilities, and bioenergy plants, and 
provides energy products to its customers. Ørsted ranks #1 in 
Corporate Knights' 2020 index of the Global 100 most sustainable 
corporations in the world and is recognised on the CDP Climate Change A 
List as a global leader on climate action. Headquartered in Denmark, 
Ørsted employs 6,500 people. Ørsted's shares are listed on 
Nasdaq Copenhagen (Orsted). In 2019, the group's revenue was DKK 67.8 
billion (EUR 9.1 billion). Visit orsted.com or follow us on Facebook, 
LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter. 
 
 
 
   Attachment 
 
 
   -- 25MARCH2020_Company announcement_Covid-19 update 
      https://ml-eu.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/6acdfae4-501f-4b69-a285-e8490a229bd0 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 25, 2020 03:16 ET (07:16 GMT)

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