On behalf of the board, I'd like to welcome you to Ørsted's annual general meeting. Safety is one of our guiding principles. We never compromise on it, and therefore, before giving the floor to the chair of the meeting, I'd like to briefly explain what to do in case of a fire. There are no planned fire drills. In the event of a fire alarm, you must leave the room immediately and proceed out of the building. Once you're outside, please go to one of the muster points. Emergency exits and muster points are displayed on the screen behind me and are marked with green exit signs. If the alarm sounds, please follow the directions given by our staff. The board of directors has appointed lawyer Anders Stubbe Arndal as chair of the meeting, and I'll leave the floor to him.
Thank you very much, and thank you for appointing me. As Chair of the AGM, it's my job to ensure that the AGM is legally held in accordance with all formalities. I just have a few practical points first. If you want the floor during the debate, I ask you to come to one of the reserved seats here at the front to my left. When showing your access card to Mr. Ulrik Jarlov from the legal department of Ørsted, he's standing up now. When you talk to him, show him your access card, and then he will make a list of speakers that he gives to me, and I will then introduce the speakers and ensure that people get the floor in the right order.
If anyone wants to leave the room during the AGM, remember to bring your access card if you want to return to the room, so that's important that you remember that. If we need to do a written vote, I ask you all to stay in the room until the voting is over. The AGM is webcast live on Ørsted's home page, and that will cover both image and sound from the podium. I ask the press not to make photos or record video during the AGM. If you see any photographer, it's Ørsted's personal photographer. After these initial comments, I have to ensure that the AGM has been legally convened and is competent for the transaction of the business on the agenda. About being correctly convened, we have to be located in Copenhagen. We are in Copenhagen.
On the 20th of November 2024, Ørsted announced the date of the AGM and when you had the deadline for making proposals for the AGM, and that's also in accordance with the Articles of Association and Danish legislation. The convening notice, agenda, and all annexes were sent out on the 12th of March 2025 to shareholders who have asked for it via email or by regular post, and it was also announced on the company website on the same date. That is in accordance with the Articles of Association and the Danish Business Act. The convening notice with all documents and also the voting rights, the revised annual report, remuneration report, and postal vote forms, etc., has been available since the 12th of March on the website. That is also in accordance with all the rules. The legislation and the Articles of Association are therefore complied with.
All proposals on the agenda today can be adopted by a simple majority, so we don't need a certain share of the vote to be represented. I conclude that the AGM is legally convened and competent, and if anyone disagrees, you must say so now. I therefore conclude that we are competent and legally convened, and before I go through the agenda, I can tell you that 85.02% of the share capital and votes are represented here today in the hall or through postal votes or proxies. I'll move on to the actual agenda, and you can see from the convening notice point one, report on the activities of the company and its subsidiaries during the period 1st January to 31st December 2024. Two, presentation of audited annual report. Three, presentation of remuneration report. Four, discharge for the board of directors and executive board. Five, appropriation of profits.
Six, proposals from the board of directors. There is one, approval of the amended remuneration policy. Seven, election of chair and deputy chair and members of the board of directors. Eight, determination of remuneration payable for 2025. Nine, election of auditor. Ten, any other business. I have agreed with the Chairman of the Board, Lene Skole, that items one to five are dealt with as one, as is traditional at Ørsted, so Lene will present the annual report, the remuneration report, and appropriation of profits. After the Chairman's presentation, we will have debate for items one to five and then make the approvals for items two and three. With that, I give the floor to Chairman of the Board, Lene Skole.
Thank you, Annes. 2024 was a year when the board of directors and I, in close collaboration with the executive board, initiated important initiatives to promote several business priorities across Ørsted. Initiatives to help improve our competitiveness and strengthen our value creation. Our business progressed significantly during 2024, although we operate in an industry which is characterized by regulatory and macroeconomic challenges, as well as continued pressure on supply chains. Combined with project-specific challenges related to our ongoing U.S. offshore wind projects, these challenges have led us to adjust our business plan. We've done this to strengthen our capital structure, to support our objective of maintaining our strong credit rating, and ensure that we become more efficient and focused in our investments. As part of this, we've decided to reduce our investment program and to step away from our long-term build-out ambitions.
Instead, we will sharpen our focus on value rather than volume. In the coming period, we'll prioritize to deliver on our committed construction portfolio with a capacity of around 9 GW. Beyond this, we have a sizable investment capacity which we can use to pursue new development opportunities. When we invest, we'll first and foremost prioritize the most financially attractive offshore wind opportunities, given that offshore wind is where we have our unique core capabilities. In January, the board appointed Rasmus Errboe as new CEO of Ørsted. Rasmus has been a valued colleague in Ørsted since 2012, and he has held various key positions such as Deputy CEO, CCO, and interim CFO. With 13 years of experience working for Ørsted, he has a deep understanding of our business and extensive knowledge of the energy industry.
Therefore, the board of directors is convinced that Rasmus is the right person to lead Ørsted through the challenges facing the industry and Ørsted. Together with the board of directors, I look forward to collaborating with Rasmus on ensuring strong results for Ørsted. Based on the challenges we've experienced in recent years, we've carefully reviewed our approach towards developing and constructing our large-scale offshore wind projects. During 2024, we implemented and initiated a number of initiatives to strengthen this. It included the rollout of a new project operating model. Among other things, it involves independent project reviews intended to ensure that we even more critically review and assess key assumptions related to project costs and scheduling. As part of that, we'll also focus our efforts on limiting the financial commitments of our project development until we are sufficiently comfortable with the maturity of the projects.
This will ensure greater flexibility with respect to project schedules, commissioning dates, and investment timing. We've also strengthened our approach to proactive risk management in our projects. This includes the possibility of entering into contracts with suppliers to ensure necessary backup capacity for the construction of projects, as well as a closer follow-up on the progress of our projects and work with our suppliers. In addition, at board level, we have set up an asset project committee with regular project reviews and monitoring of project risks as its primary focus. The committee also carries out risk assessments of selected projects and reports the results to the executive board and the board of directors. With our updated business plan, we've taken measures to strengthen our capital structure and ensure that we'll become a more focused and efficient company.
A central component in this is the decision to reduce our investment program towards 2030 by 25%. Even with the adjustment to our investment program, we are still on track to grow significantly. In coming years, we will almost double our installed offshore wind capacity through the execution of our construction portfolio. In addition to the current investments, we have an investment capacity of between DKK 40 billion and DKK 60 billion, which we'll prioritize for the most value-creating opportunities. We'll continue to be active across our three regions, but first and foremost, we'll prioritize investing in offshore wind projects in the regions and countries where we see the most attractive framework conditions and investment environments. Let's have a look at the progress made in the course of 2024, starting with our offshore business. During the year, we commissioned 1 GW of renewable offshore capacity across two projects.
In Taiwan, we commissioned our Greater Changhua 1 and 2A projects, which is the largest offshore wind project in the APAC region with a capacity of 900 MW. We also reached COD at our South Fork project in the U.S., which is the first utility-scale offshore wind farm in the U.S. At full capacity, the 132-MW project can provide renewable energy to approximately 70,000 homes in the state of New York. In addition to this, we have progressed almost 2.5 GW of offshore capacity to final investment decision when including the final investment decision for Baltica 2 earlier this year. At the beginning of 2024, our Sunrise Wind project secured a new and improved power purchase agreement by rebidding in the New York Round 4 tender. Later in the year, once we'd secured the final key federal permits, we took final investment decision on the project.
As mentioned, we took final investment decision together with our partner, PGE, on the 1.5 GW Baltica 2 project earlier in 2025. Baltica 2 has a 25-year inflation-linked power purchase agreement and has obtained all regulatory permits. We expect the project to be fully commissioned by the end of 2027. In the U.K., we reached a significant milestone in 2024 when we secured power purchase agreements of 3.5 GW in total for our offshore wind farms, Hornsea 3 and Hornsea 4. Once operational, Hornsea 3 will be the world's single largest offshore wind farm with a capacity of 3 GW. Overall, we continue the progress our partnership and the investment program has embarked on, and we remain on target to deliver proceeds in the range of between DKK 70 billion-DKK 80 billion for the period 2024 - 2026.
During 2024, we made significant progress, including in the U.K., where we signed an agreement with Brookfield Renewable to divest a minority stake in the four operational offshore wind farms with a combined total capacity of 3.5 GW. In Taiwan, we closed an agreement to divest 50% of our offshore wind farm, Greater Changhua 4, to Cathay Life Insurance, which is the leading insurance company in Taiwan. In our onshore business, we commissioned a total of 1.4 GW of renewable capacity in the course of 2024. In the U.S., we commissioned Sparta Solar and Mockingbird Solar Center. Mockingbird is the largest solar farm in our portfolio to date. Furthermore, 11 Mile, our combined solar and battery storage project, was commissioned.
We also took final investment decisions on several projects during the year, including our 259 MW onshore wind farm, Battle Wind, as well as our Old 300 battery energy storage system located adjacent to our farm, Old 300. By the end of 2024, we had around 800 MW of onshore capacity under construction. Our onshore business has also contributed to material progress on our partnership and divestment program through the closing of a number of transactions. In the U.S., we've divested a stake in a portfolio consisting of four operational onshore wind farms to Stone Peak and completed a partial divestment of three projects to Energy Capital Partners. We also made a strategic decision to deprioritize the French market and divested our French onshore business to Engie. In our bioenergy and other business, we've also seen a number of developments in the course of the year.
As part of our Ørsted-Kalundborg Hub project, we've entered a new major agreement on selling a further 1 million tons to Microsoft of the captured and stored carbon dioxide from the Avedøre power station over a 10-year period. The new agreement builds on an existing carbon capture and storage commitment by Microsoft to buy 2.67 million tons. In early 2025, we've taken significant steps with the installation of the main components of the project, and we expect to commission the project in early 2026. We took a strategic decision to deprioritize our projects within e-fuels. This included the decision to cease the development of Flagship One, our liquid e-fuels project. The decision was driven by a slower-than-expected industrialization of the technology, the commercial development of the offtake market, and a deteriorating business case.
We remain dedicated to advancing the global shift towards renewable energy, and our efforts in decarbonizing our energy systems continued in 2024. Since installing the first offshore wind farm in 1991, our massive investments in renewables have ensured that we're on track to deliver on our ambitious industry-leading science-based target to reduce our scope 1-2 emissions intensity by 93% compared to 2018. In 2024, the renewable share of our heat and power generation amounted to 97%, or up 4 percentage points relative to 2023. In 2021, we established a net-zero emissions target for our scope 1-3 emissions by 2040, making us the first energy company with a science-based target. In continuation of this, we've also continued to deliver on our sustainability efforts. Our work on sustainability is divided into three strategic priorities decarbonization, biodiversity, and impact on society.
Our work with sustainability ensures that our projects create value not only for our business, but also for nature and people. Decarbonization is important to us. During 2024, we shut down our last coal-based power plant in Esbjerg. It marked a major step in transforming our entire energy production to renewable energy. In addition, we're working determinedly to reduce our scope 3 emissions, as exemplified by our long-term lower-emission heavy plate steel agreement with the steel manufacturer Dillinger in 2024. This agreement contributes to the decarbonization of materials essential to the build-out of renewable energy, and it also supports Dillinger's efforts to decarbonize steel production. In terms of our biodiversity impact, we were the first in the industry to launch a new biodiversity measurement method to ensure transparent measurement and reporting to demonstrate that renewable energy benefits nature.
We also piloted one of our innovative biodiversity projects in Taiwan, where we are planning to grow corals on offshore wind turbines during the year. We also developed and applied a new technology for noiseless installation of monopiles, thus improving the protection of marine life in the surrounding sea. In addition to the noise reduction, the technology may also lead to significant reductions in costs and installation time. In terms of community impact, we continue to integrate local jobs, possibilities for training, and community engagement into our project delivery. An example of this is in the U.S., where we supported the development program of a local workforce that has provided more than 300 workers with the necessary credentials for working offshore. Sustainability is an integral part of our activities and the way we operate.
By 2024, we've ensured an even clearer anchoring of responsibility for this area in our group executive team. In 2024, we fully implemented and carried out sustainability reporting in compliance with the new EU rules on corporate sustainability reporting, CSRD. Our sustainability reporting will continue until the end of 2025, with additional focus on, for instance, identifying risks, reassessing controls, and establishing additional controls where necessary. We fully support the intention of transparency and standardization on relevant issues. We see the CSRD regulation as a way of working in addition to being a reporting framework. We do, however, also support current discussions about the need to simplify the framework by eliminating reporting obligations that are less relevant and pose an administrative burden. Hence, we are closely following the debate in the EU on the issue.
This is an important discussion to ensure that the focus is both on sustainability and competitiveness. I'll now go through the key financial highlights of the year. Our operational earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, also called the EBITDA, amounted to DKK 32 billion for the year. The result was positively affected by the finalization of contract settlements with better outcomes than assumed in relation to our decision to cease development of Ocean Wind One in the USA. The EBITDA, excluding new partnerships and excluding costs related to discontinued project development, the cancellation fees, amounted to DKK 24.8 billion, which is approximately DKK 800 million higher than in 2023 and in line with our guidance for the year, which was between DKK 24 billion and DKK 26 billion.
The earnings from our offshore sites improved by more than DKK 3.5 billion because of higher wind speeds, ramp-up of generation, and higher prices on both green certificates and inflation-indexed power purchasing agreements. The reported net profit was DKK 16 million, which was significantly impacted by the impairments in our American portfolio of about DKK 14 billion. Adjusted for impairment losses and cancellation fees of a total of DKK 6.3 billion, our net profit for the year was DKK 6.4 billion, which was lower than in 2023 due to lower earnings from new partnerships, higher financing costs, and higher tax. However, this was partially offset by higher underlying earnings. Adjusted for impairments and cancellation fees, our return on capital employed stood at 10.1% at the end of the year.
The reported return on capital employed stood at 4.5% for 2024, and this is expected to increase over the coming years in line with our target of an average of approximately 13% for the period 2024 - 2030. Cash flows from operating activities amounted to DKK 18.4 billion in 2024. This was lower than in 2023, primarily driven by the payment of cancellation fees related to Ocean Wind One. Our gross investments amounted to DKK 42.8 billion in 2024. The majority of our investments were related to the build-out of offshore wind projects in Europe, the U.S., and Taiwan. The remainder of the investments were related to the build-out of onshore projects in the U.S. and Europe and the construction of our carbon capture and storage facility in Denmark.
Our divestments amounted to close to DKK 22 billion in 2024, which includes proceeds of DKK 6.2 billion related to prepayments of power following the divestment of a minority stake in a portfolio consisting of four U.K. offshore wind farms. Our interest-bearing net debt stood at DKK 58 billion at the end of 2024, up DKK 10.6 billion relative to the year before. The increase was driven by increased investments as well as payments of cancellation fees related to Ocean Wind One. Our key credit metric, which is a measure of our ability to generate funds from operations to service our debt, also known as FFO, relative to adjusted net interest-bearing debt, stood at 13% compared to 29% at the beginning of the year. The decrease is primarily attributable to the payment of cancellation fees for Ocean Wind One.
Removing the impact of these cancellation fees, our credit metric at the end of the year would have been approximately 22%. To ensure we have financial robustness and the strength to operate in the international energy and financial markets, we target a solid investment-grade rating with all three credit rating agencies. I'd also like to highlight a few elements of the 2024 remuneration report for the board of directors and the executive board. The remuneration report reflects the changes that we've seen at executive board level during the year. On 1st April 2024, we established a new commercial area under Rasmus Errboe, who was appointed Deputy CEO and Chief Commercial Officer. At the same time, Trond Westlie was appointed CFO. On 1st February 2025, Rasmus Errboe was appointed new Group President and CEO of Ørsted in place of Mads Nipper.
This recent event does not impact the remuneration reported for 2024. For the shared KPIs in the short-term incentives scheme, the results varied, utilizing the whole performance span across financial, ESG, and individual targets. The executive board's shared short-term incentive score ended at 31%, reflecting the delivery of the earnings in line with expectations, as well as the continued challenges with the execution of our U.S. offshore portfolio. In the long-term incentive scheme, the executive board did not receive shares in 2024 due to Ørsted's share price development relative to peers in the energy industry. Our employees continue to be at the core of our business. I'm grateful for the many talented and dedicated employees working for Ørsted. Even through a year of uncertainty and redundancies, they have once again proved their unwavering commitment and taken us a further step towards our vision of a world that runs entirely on green energy.
We are navigating in a rapidly changing industry, and that requires us to constantly adapt. In 2024, we had to make organizational adjustments, including redundancies, to maintain our competitive edge. While employee satisfaction, motivation, and voluntary turnover levels remain healthy compared to the industry benchmarks, we have had, and all this has had a notable impact and led to a significant drop in 2024, and we are actively addressing these challenges. We're increasing our focus on internal communication and change management, strengthening our focus on good leadership and mental health, and reaffirm our commitment to transparency and the well-being of our workforce. In the executive management, we still have an ambition and a key priority that job satisfaction and motivation should be at the top level.
In 2024, we reduced our total recordable injury rate, and that's the second year in a row that we have a reduction in that number. We continue to deliver on our long-term focused efforts on safety. We welcome the reduction and will continue our safety improvements to ensure that the trend continues. It was with great sadness that we recently received the news that two external wind technicians at our Plum Creek wind farm lost their lives in a fatal accident. Our deepest condolences go to their families and friends, and we are working with our external suppliers to support the families in any way we can. Right now, we're focusing on the current investigation that the relevant authorities are conducting. We'll continue our efforts on recruiting and retaining female employees in Ørsted to promote diversity and a more balanced gender composition across the organization.
Across the entire Ørsted workforce, we have an ambition to reach a gender balance of 40% women and 60% men by 2030. Even though we succeeded in increasing the share in female leaders at our most senior levels during 2024, we didn't improve our overall gender diversity as planned. To achieve our ambition, we have a talent development team dedicated to ensuring that diversity and equality are taken into account in the ongoing organizational review process. This team is crucial in including diversity considerations in our succession planning and promoting a balanced representation of men and women in leadership positions. As part of the capital markets update in February 2024, we announced our decision to suspend the dividend distribution for the financial years 2023 to 2025 to strengthen our capital structure.
Consequently, the board of directors proposes that no dividends are to be distributed to the shareholders for the financial year 2024. For the financial year 2025, we expect EBITDA, excluding new partnerships and the impact from potential changes in cancellation fees, will be in the range of DKK 25 billion-DKK 28 billion. Our gross investments for 2025, which are planned to be invested in our current construction portfolio, are expected to amount to DKK 50 billion-DKK 54 billion in 2025. With that, I'll summarize with a few concluding remarks. Throughout 2024, we navigated an energy industry characterized by regulatory and macroeconomic challenges and continued pressure on supply chains. Combined with project-specific challenges relating to our U.S. offshore wind projects, this has had an adverse consequence on our capital structure.
Therefore, we have updated our business plan to strengthen our capital structure and support our target of ensuring a solid investment-grade rating. We've decided to step away from our long-term build-out ambition as we want to prioritize value creation over growth and ensure full focus on the delivery of our construction portfolio, which will ensure close to a doubling of our installed offshore wind capacity in the years to come. During the year, we have carefully reviewed our approach to project development and construction, and we have taken several steps to strengthen this at both executive board and board level. We delivered solid operational earnings in 2024 with a total EBITDA of DKK 32 billion.
In addition, we achieved a number of strategic milestones, including the commissioning of approximately 2.4 GW renewable energy capacity, final investment decision on 2.5 GW of offshore wind capacity, and secured power purchase agreements of 3.5 GW in the U.K.'s sixth location round. Finally, I would like to express my sincere thanks to our skilled colleagues who, throughout a year of uncertainty and redundancies, yet again proved their unwavering commitment and who continue to drive the energy transition forward. Thank you for your attention, and I'll turn the floor back to the Chair of the meeting. Thank you. Before I open up for the debate concerning items one to five in relation to the approval of the annual report, I can inform you that the audit report can be found on the pages 250 - 254 in the annual report.
It's in english, and that also applies to the audit report, and we have translated it into Danish. This is what it says. In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements give a true and fair view of the group's financial position at 31st December 2024 and of the results of the group's operations and cash flows for the financial year 1st January to 31st December 2024, in accordance with the IFRS accounting standards as adopted by the EU and further requirements in the Danish Financial Statements Act. Moreover, in our opinion, the parent company financial statements give a true and fair view of the parent company's financial position at 31st December 2024 and the results of the parent company's operations for the financial year 1st January to 31st December 2024, in accordance with the Danish Financial Statements Act.
I will now open the floor, and I can inform you that ATP, the Danish Labour Market Supplementary Pension Fund, the Danish Shareholders Association, Bjarne Hansen, and Friends Provident Foundation have informed me that they wish to take the floor. Let's hear first from ATP. Klaus Wienberg is the first speaker. Thank you. I am Klaus Wienberg, and I represent ATP Pension Fund. Thank you for the report and the presentation of the annual report. As we heard in the report, 2024 was yet another year of difficulty for Ørsted. The underlying EBITDA result was at the expected level, but the result was negatively affected by another round of extraordinary impairments to the tune of DKK 14 billion. In particular, the most recent one, DKK 4.3 billion for Sunrise, in relation to delays and additional costs, gives cause for concern.
It does not continue the previous good track record held by Ørsted in a number of respects. In the light of the most recent development, it is a question of having to reduce the long-term ambitions and instead execute what is already under contract. We hope that Ørsted will be able to get back on track and restore the confidence of the environment in its ability to perform. We have a good review now of the ambitions and the initiatives taken by the board. Wind farms at sea now have a value of between DKK 70 billion-DKK 80 billion, and there is a major challenge here, although DKK 22 billion worth was sold in 2024. Which brings me to two essential questions. What do you find to be the biggest risks in connection with the execution of the upcoming 8.4 GW offshore wind?
What do you find to be the largest risks execution of the large divestment program without compromising the value of the projects? I focus on these two questions for a simple reason. As I see it, a successful solution of these two major issues is vital for Ørsted's ability to subsequent development of a more ambitious long-term strategy for the company. I also have a comment to the CSRD report that we heard about. At the general level, it seems that Ørsted is in control of that process. It's also a very comprehensive presentation we see from Ørsted's side. We don't know about the future requirements from the EU because everything is up in the air now.
No matter where we end up, it's important for ATP that companies focus their reports on the issues and matters that are important to the individual business, because if the reporting is too wide, there's a risk that the important things will simply drown. One could say less is more. By way of conclusion, I'd like to welcome Rasmus Errboe as new CEO, and I look forward to continue our dialogue, which is already established and very satisfactory. Let me conclude by wishing you all the best in your work in the coming year. Thank you. Thank you very much. Let's hear from the chairman of the board. Thank you, Klaus. I always appreciate you and your ideas and thoughts about our business. We appreciate that a great deal. You said that once we can go back to setting long-term targets.
I just want to say that we are leading in relation to offshore wind farms, so we intend to hold on to that position, and we have not forgotten that that's where we are. It is also true, as you say, that there are some focus areas that we need to make sure that we focus a bit more on in the short term. There is not only our divestment program, but also the construction of our 8 GW of offshore wind that we need to land successfully. Everything that we do is attached to risks, and I cannot give you any guarantees. Risks are plentiful. There are those that we cannot control. We do not know about the level of interest rates. We do not know about tariffs. That has been proven very clearly over the past couple of days, and we do not know what will happen in relation to corporation tax.
I'm quite sure that you also think about something that we can control ourselves, how we execute. That is a very important focus area for Rasmus and the rest of the executive management, focusing on execution. That also explains the adjustments we have made to the way we work. As I said in my report, we have strengthened execution of risks in the projects, in management, and on the board. We do what we can. It's an obvious and clear focus area for us. With regard to divestments, yes, it would be wonderful if I could issue a guarantee that, of course, we can divest and earn a lot of money in the same instance. Divestments have always been an inherent part of our business. We are good at divestments, and there is a demand for good projects.
I feel quite comfortable that we will land this one as well. Thank you for your comments concerning our reporting in relation to the EU requirements. I think there is an important discussion going on at the moment because what matters is what you do, and then you need to make sure that the reporting does not take control of the whole situation so that, well, so that the relevant things do not drown in a mass of data. I hope I answered all your questions. Thank you very much, and I will now hand over to the Danish Shareholders Association. After him, it will be Bjarne Hansen. Thank you, and thank you for the floor. My name is Michael Bach, and I represent Danish private investors in the Danish Shareholders Association.
Thank you for organizing a hybrid AGM where you can participate both online and be present in the room. Thank you for a good report and the commitment from all employees and management in Ørsted. On behalf of the shareholders, I would like to start by welcoming you, Rasmus Errboe, as new CEO. You have many years of experience, and I'm sure the board of directors has chosen the right profile. I would also like to hear some details from you because, just like in sports, we as shareholders feel we need to support our favorite team and the coach that is the CEO. We also respect that, just like Mr. Nipper came to the company at a difficult time, you have taken over as CEO at a difficult time.
I would like to ask, how will you change the management style, or what will your style be, and how will you make a difference? Because we think we need a new set of eyes, a visionary CEO, a brave CEO to show us the way to the new Ørsted, we might call it. I also have a couple of questions to the annual report. Close to what ATP asked, but with different nuances. In the U.S., we have seen great challenges for many years. Both Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind caused these significant impairment costs. How will you handle these financial losses in the U.S.? We have seen that the U.S., since the change of the government, has become more critical vis-à-vis green energy. I also have a question about the so-called farm downs where you divest projects.
It's described on page 9 in the annual report how you handle that risk. It is also important to say that when you want to maintain a good credit rating, you need to really stay creditworthy. Do you still believe that the plan you have for farm downs can be implemented also in these tumultuous political times we live in? Which consequences might it have if you cannot live up to that plan? Do we maybe in a year or two or three years' time have to raise new capital? With that, I would like to thank the management, and I also look forward to hearing a few words from you, Rasmus. We need a strong Ørsted, so good luck for the rest of 2025. Thank you very much. I heard three questions, I think, some of them about the annual report and some directed to the CEO.
I think I'll first give the floor to Lene Skole to answer her questions and then to Rasmus Errboe. Thank you very much for your kind words, Michael. You asked some questions, and as you say, some of them have to do with what Klaus Wienberg from ATP asked. If I start with a question that was a bit different, whether the shareholders will need to raise capital in other places or increase share capital. I have to say we have a plan we believe in, and we will implement it, and that's our full focus. That plan does not need us to increase the share capital. This is what we are working on and what we'll execute on, and that's what Rasmus and his team work on. About the American projects, I heard your question as being sort of twofold.
Firstly, what do we do to ensure that we don't have any other negative consequences of American projects? Of course, I can't give you any guarantees because things are moving. Again, I have to say that what we'll guarantee is that we have updated our way of working, both in the project, in management, and in daily management. For instance, when steering the projects, we also have independent advisors. In the board of directors, we also have a special committee that looks into this. We're focusing on everything we can control ourselves. We also ask about whether developments in the U.S. will make us change the opinion of our projects. The projects we are finalizing, we are continuing with them. They have the approvals they need for us to continue with them, and that's what we're focusing on, and that hasn't changed.
I think that answered the questions directed at me, and now it'll be interesting to hear from Rasmus. Thank you, Michael, for your support and the support of the Danish Shareholders Association. That means a lot to me. Of course, you can understand that I'm happy and humbled to take on this job here where I've been working for 13 years, both with a headwind and tailwind. I have a lot of knowledge about our business. I have a lot of knowledge about the industry, and I'm going to use that in the years to come. When we presented the annual report, I already tried to set the direction about four clear priorities. Firstly, to strengthen our capital structure. Secondly, to deliver on our 8.4 GW construction program for offshore wind. Thirdly, having a disciplined capital allocation focusing on offshore wind. Fourthly, to improve our competitiveness further.
I'm convinced that with our plan, our updated business plan, and the initiatives I mentioned, we will ensure to be competitive and strengthen our position as a global leader in offshore wind. On a more personal note, I believe that we are facing major challenges both for Ørsted but also for the industry as a whole. I believe Ørsted is a fantastic company, and I've seen already what we can do when we're at our very best. I'm convinced that it will be a lot of hard work for a long time. We need to earn the trust of investors, and we need to turn things around. That's what we'll work very hard on every day in the years to come. Thank you very much. Next speaker is Bjarne Hansen. You have the floor, sir. I am Bjarne Hansen.
I represent shareholders, a group of minor shareholders, and a few large ones. I have also done a bit of research. I travel to the Middle East every year to the Emirates, where we are a group of people with industrial interests that get together. Thank you to Lene Skole for her report. She is good at delivering her reports, still is, so well done. Congratulations, Rasmus. I think it's important to Ørsted that we now have a new man at the helm that knows the business inside out. I think that is important in times such as these. With Lene's international experience, it's fine. Trond, no one has referred to you. You're Norwegian, aren't you? You see, you need to hurry if you need to do some trading in dollar because only today it has risen upwards of 6%. Any payables in dollar, hurry.
It will also affect the dividend to shareholders, of course. Just don't forget that some of the, well, I don't know what main banks you work with, but as far as I know, they barred sits from trading because it rose too much. The banks will be the big winners in this game. That's my opinion. I also have some questions. According to Nordnet, Ørsted owns 50.1% of, well, 50.1% is owned by Danish state. That is a profit of plus DKK 16 million for 2024. In 2023, it was DKK 20 billion 122 million in particular because of losses in the U.S. With their offshore wind farms, Ørsted has been in political and financial turmoil. Who lost most kroner and dollar of all the partners that you are working with? I'm thinking of the settlements. Didn't the U.S. lose?
Was it only the American consumers that lost or consumers in general? We're told today that a cable, a high-tech cable, renewable energy from Canada to New York will provide 20% of the power required to turn the lights on in New York. I don't know who does your cabling work for you. Is it NKT or is it the Chinese? I prefer that we use Western operators both here and now and in future because all of a sudden we risk finding ourselves with a lot of Chinese sea cables and a lot of breakdowns. How many millions or billions in DKK have you taken up loans in hybrid bonds in Luxembourg and in other countries such as the U.S.? And which U.S. and EU banks did you use for the lending arrangements? The loans apply from 3019, 3021, 3022, 3024, and again 3021.
Approximately DKK 21 billion, perhaps a bit more. I do not think it is less. What is the plan for this payback or rather the repayment, and what is the cost to Ørsted and Danish State, these hybrid loans in bonds until redemption? What is the cost per year? There are different accounting principles when it comes to hybrid loans, people have told me. I heard this in particular from people abroad that also work in the Danish market. My third question Is it the Norwegian Oil Fund that pays? It has paid additional shares in Ørsted recently. How many % does the Oil Fund hold? It would be interesting to know when they get upwards of 20% because that means a board membership. They probably know things better than many others. I do not mind that it is Norwegian Oil that all of a sudden becomes involved.
The Norwegians have invested all over the globe, and they're doing fine year in, year out, generation after generation. Fourth question Ørsted must reduce all climate reports and environment and instead invest in offshore farms and solar cell farms in the western part of Ukraine and let Russia, and in particular Putin, pay for the reconstruction, in particular of the eastern part of Ukraine where the soil has been polluted and which is ravaged by war. What does one of the biggest companies in Denmark do for this transition and future? I think that we should sound out the possibilities for setting up a large wind farm, but as far away from the war zone as possible. In Ukraine itself or in a neighboring country, it doesn't really matter, but sometimes the grants differ, and Ukraine is really in a difficult position.
When you look for places to set up these offshore wind farms, you do an excellent job. I think over the next three to four-year period, we should not really involve ourselves with the U.S.. If U.S. companies practically come begging, I think we should refuse also because if you cannot make money on it, we should refuse. These are my initial questions, and I may come back. We see how the politicians are passive, and they are really dragging their feet in relation to creating peace. Thank you for listening. It is good to have a good woman at the helm of this company. Thank you. Thank you. There were four questions here to the panel. First, Lene Skole, you have the floor. Thank you, Bjarne Hansen, for attending our AGM once again. It is always wonderful to see you.
Thank you for the update about what's going on in the currency markets. It's difficult when you're in a meeting such as this. You talk about losses and gains. The financial results that we report are ours. That's what has to do with Ørsted. It's all Ørsted that we deal with here. What happened to others in a number of different markets is not really up for me to talk about here. We have focused on our figures. You talked about Chinese cables and other issues. In our industry and in many other industries, it's practically impossible to do something, have projects that do not involve Chinese spare parts or elements or components.
Norwegian Bank, if they are shareholders or not, I'm not quite sure if I understood you correctly, but I can tell you that we have shareholders reporting to us how big their holdings are. We know that the Norwegians now hold 10%. Yes. This is what they have reported themselves officially. I think I had better go by the official reports made by these shareholders to Ørsted. It's all I can do, and that's what I'm doing. You asked about Ukraine. It's a desperate situation Ukraine has been in for quite a while now. From time to time, there are proposals and suggestions: what can we do? We always take stock of the situation, but we haven't yet found something which really makes sense for us as Ørsted.
That is why I have to say that at the present time, Ukraine is not a market that we consider when it comes to the construction of energy projects. You also talked about where we will go in future, and you mentioned the U.S.. As I said before, when we make decisions about projects and start up a project, we try to find out where we can create the highest value for Ørsted and for shareholders. That is what determines our actions. Of course, we do that in our core competency area, which is offshore wind. The world is changing, and you said so yourself, but that will never change. It is offshore wind. There was a question about hybrid loans, and I would now like to pass that on to Trond. Ørsted has issued five hybrid bonds.
It's an integral part of the financing structure in our business, and it underpins our investment capacities. The reason is that hybrid capital is considered to be a combination of outside capital and own capital, and it is also special in relation to leverage. We have this 100-year term for these instruments, and the interest level will go up in the course of this period so that usually the hybrid capital will be repaid for a period of between 5 and 20 years. It is a predetermined system. Today, we are paying between 1.5%-5.2% on the bonds. In order of magnitude, we are talking about just under DKK 21 billion. Thank you. There is a request for the floor. Did you bring your access card? Oh, thank you. Kilbaya is your name. Okay. If there are other requests for the floor, please approach Ulrik Jarlov.
I said this initially in order to be signed on to the list of speakers. Thank you very much. Yesterday, Donald Trump launched new tariffs, and I haven't heard anything from you about how you think that will influence Ørsted. I would really like to hear about that. We are also here to adopt the annual report, but there were no accounting figures in the slideshow, so it's difficult to adopt something you haven't seen. I'm sad to say when you print the text, it's in such a small font that it's impossible for me to read it, certainly. It would be very useful if you checked the text and also checked all the different varied and difficult wording you use. You say there's a profit of DKK 16 billion, and that's lovely, but the capital explanation shows that capital has increased by DKK 16 billion.
That is quite a lot. I would like you to review item by item what the components are of this so that you can actually understand the profit and loss account. This is also in the capital statement. The account is also in english, and I would really like to also have a Danish version because I do not feel like you are on the side of the Danish shareholders anymore. It is very difficult for us Danes to understand what is going on in the company because everything is in english. I would like you to protect the interests of the Danish shareholders. I would also like to say this to the Danish legislators that there should be a requirement for this also to be in Danish when we are talking about a Danish company because there are far too many difficult words also.
There should also be a link to explanations. I mean, sometimes we shareholders are completely lost, even at Novo Nordisk. The wording of accounts is just too difficult, and only other countries or foreign investors benefit from this. We should really put Denmark first, also linguistically. You also mentioned the CO2 footprint or the carbon footprint. Now, I was trying to find this on my phone now, but I can't find it. The carbon footprint, the CO2 contents of the air is 0.004%. That's what you now want to reduce. I mean, if you get down to 0.2%, both plants and people will die. If you get to 0.5%, plants actually grow better.
Instead of listening to Microsoft or whoever, can't you just sell the captured carbon to Danish farming, for instance, so that we can grow plants and also stop being so hysterical about CO2? That's just, and the people have really been conned by this whole CO2 hysteria. Thank you. There were some questions for management. I think Lene Skole will start replying. Thank you for the questions, Kil. First, tariffs. Some tariffs were introduced early on in March. Of course, we have a picture of what that will mean. Without being able to put exact figures to it, it is relevant for American projects, Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind. It's also for insulation. If you look at the context of the entire project, it's not something that really has a major impact on the return on investments.
I know a lot of new things were launched last night, and I don't think anyone fully understands what that will mean. Of course, we are following it closely and do a lot of calculations. Of course, we'll make announcements if there's something that means we need to inform you. The last comments from you, I'm not sure I can comment on that. Of course, you're right that in the annual accounts, there are a lot of technicalities. We strive to maybe give some glossaries every now and then, and maybe we need to explain a few more things. It's also true that our accounts are in english and understand where you're coming from. Of course, it would be nice if it were also in Danish.
However, all companies, not just Ørsted, have to be efficient and make savings to deliver a good return on investment. The trend we are seeing is that accounts will be in english. I do not really see that as being reversed. We will continue to communicate in english. There is the whole discussion of CO2. I will not go into that, but for us, it is important to help create a more sustainable world. Reducing our CO2 footprint matters, and we will continue to do that. There was a question about capital, and I would ask Trond, could you—you have not been here for that long, but could you say something? I am sorry about speaking in Norwegian, not in Danish, although what we are talking about is in english. With regard to capital increase, it was a bit over DKK 16 billion.
Mainly, the thing was that we have invested about DKK 42 billion in new investments, and there has been a payment of about DKK 8 billion. Net, after investments and payments, it means that we have a net debt of about DKK 10 billion over the year. This means we have a capital intensity that means our total capital increases by DKK 16 billion. The accounts also show that we have a net capital definition that means that we go from 2023- 2024 has an increase. Thank you. Mr. Bjarne Hansen has also asked for the floor again, and Mr. Kilbaya has for a brief comment. If anybody else wants the floor during the debate, I ask you to contact Ulrik Jarlov in the front row while Bjarne Hansen is speaking, and then we will close the speakers list. Bjarne, go ahead.
I think you are mistaken, Trond. It's not a 30-year loan you have taken up. It's a 100-year loan. I would like to hear if—we have heard of companies raising loans that are 1,000 years in term to maturity. I base myself on what Nordnet told me, and I have seen the American accounts that you report. I look forward also to see a report from you in Norwegian or Danish. It's okay with me. We don't have a statement of income, and Kilbaya also said that there are things that are not evident and easy to find in the accounts, and how does it affect us going forward? It's the 100-year loans and those loans that are older than that. Thank you. There were some extra questions for Trond and the mobile loans or hybrid loans.
Yes, the hybrid loans in the balance you find between the debt and the equity capital because under costs, they're usually entered under financial costs. With regard to the maturity, it makes good sense to say it's a 100-year loan, but they are usually repaid over a shorter period because of the structure of the loans. Thank you, says the chair of the meeting. The next speaker is Kilbaya, and we have no more names on the list of speakers. Kilbaya is the last person to speak, and I have closed the list now. Thank you. You always hear companies saying, "We want to save money by not issuing an annual report in Danish." Yeah, but what about the cost to Danish shareholders that we cannot read the publications properly? It's not just DKK 1 million to us.
It's actually a cheat on your part to do this. I'm glad to see a representative in the room from the Danish Financial Supervisory Agency. A Danish business, you should report in Danish. I like Norwegians, but I don't understand what you're saying, Trond. I'm sorry. I don't understand anything of what you say. We would like a translation into Danish. I asked for the capital statement review done by you personally, verbally here, line by line. We are not talking about peanuts here. We're talking about an awful lot of money. You have completely omitted it from your report. Explain to us what is going on. It's the capital statement, and that's where the interesting things are to be found, not in the balance sheet or in the statement of income. Thank you very much.
By way of introduction, I'd like to point out that the annual report has an unqualified audit report, and it lives up to all the international and Danish standards. It's been available on the company's website since mid-March. Trond actually gave an explanation already concerning the capital movements in the balance sheet. I also heard the comment concerning the language of the annual report as being aimed at legislators and not the company as such. The company has heard what you said, I think. On that basis, I think I find that the debate has now been concluded. I find that we have taken note of your report with such additional comments as has occurred in the course of the debate. We will now have to decide on items two to five on the agenda.
By way of introduction, I'd like to tell you that according to the Danish Company Act, Article 101, it is possible for any shareholder to ask for a complete statement of how many votes were in favor and against in relation to a given proposal. I propose that we do not have a written vote if we are to have a vote at this meeting because the weather is so fine outside, and there are also other reasons. In relation to the individual items, we can determine the exact result of the vote without any ballots being involved if you are ready to answer two questions: Are anyone against? Are anyone abstaining?
If only a limited number of shareholders wish to vote against or refrain from voting, then please talk to Ulrik Jarlov and bring your access card because then I will take it that all the others in the room are voting in favor. Once the votes have been decided in this way, we can then find out what the situation is on the basis of postal votes and powers of attorney that have come in advance. Do you have any comments to this? Okay. Item two, approval of the annual report. I'd like to hear if there are shareholders that wish to vote against the approval of the annual report or abstain. That is not the case. Please approach Ulrik Jarlov subsequently or after. I take it that all others in the room will approve the annual report for 2024. It has been approved. Item three, the remuneration report 2024.
This is just an advisory vote, which means that if shareholders do not approve the remuneration report, Ørsted will have to explain in his remuneration report 2025, explain how this has been taken account of. Anyone wishes to vote against or abstain? That's not the case. I take it then that we all approve the remuneration report, and the remuneration report 2024 has been approved. Item four, discharge of responsibilities. An approval of this proposal means that the company will inform members of board and management that they are exempt of liability with regard to the matters mentioned in the annual report 2024. Are there anyone that wishes to abstain or vote against? That is not the case. I take it that everyone is voting in favor of approval of the proposal concerning discharge of responsibilities, and this will now be given to members of board and management.
That brings us to item five, proposal for the appropriation of profit. As the chairman of the board stated, it is proposed not to pay out dividends for 2024, but to transfer the profit to the next financial year. According to the legislation, the AGM cannot adopt a higher dividend than proposed by the Board of Directors. That cannot be changed. I will just conclude that the Board of Directors' proposal not to pay out dividends is final. Does anybody want to vote against or abstain from voting on the appropriation of profit? That is not the case. I conclude that everybody is voting for the proposal not to pay out dividends. That brings us to item six. Here there is a proposal from the board of directors on an amended remuneration policy for the board of directors and the executive board.
Just briefly go through the proposal, and the complete proposal appears from the convening notice Annex One. The most significant changes are that the members of the new project committee will receive a fixed annual remuneration. The fixed annual travel remuneration is changed from DKK 200,000 to 0.5 x the fixed base fee. Members who live outside of Denmark can be compensated for tax payments on the basis of their fees from the board of directors. The long-term share-based incentive program is updated so that results criteria from vesting can be a combination of financial and non-financial criteria. 40% of the shares given to the executive management will be fixed for two years. The share requirement for members of the executive board is updated to 25% of their fixed annual salary, whether they're part of the long-term incentive program or not.
They can build up over a period of five years. Finally, the authorization from 2021 for an indemnity scheme for members of the board and the executive board is renewed and updated. After the Danish Business Authority stated some things in 2023, there is the need for an update. That appears from the remuneration policy item 3.9. The total text appears from Annex One to the convening notice. Does anybody want to vote against or abstain from voting on this proposal? There is a question. Go ahead. It is about all the share programs. That can be difficult to understand for us shareholders. One way to legalize it would be that it appears from the five-year overlook so that you can see what you have promised to the board of directors so we can all take joy in all the money you get. Thank you.
This was more of a piece of advice, I think, than something that requires a response. But we've noted that. Thank you, Mr. Kilbaya. Are there other questions or comments? That is not the case. Does anyone want to vote against or abstain from voting? That is not the case. I will conclude that everyone has adopted the remuneration policy and that the proposal from the board of directors is adopted. That brings us to item seven, election of members of the board of directors. In accordance with the Articles of Association, all members of the board are for election. Dieter Wimmer and Peter Korsholm do not run for re-election. I have agreed with Lene Skole that she would propose the two new proposed members of the board. I give the floor to Lene Skole. Thank you, Anders.
The board of directors has evaluated candidates for the board of directors through our nomination and remuneration committee, and we're delighted to present two strong new candidates for the board of directors, Judith Hartmann and Julian David Waldron. Both candidates have extensive international leadership experience from both operational and financial roles, especially from their roles as CFO in a number of major global companies. Also, Judith has deep knowledge of the energy markets and the renewables industry, and Julian has deep knowledge of project and risk management. The board of directors is convinced that their experience and competencies will be of great value to the board. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the departing board members, Dieter Wimmer and Peter Korsholm, for their great service to the board of directors in the past years. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Details concerning the elections of board members are as follows. There will be a total of six members elected by the AGM. This appears in the convening notice. Lene Skole will be re-elected. She is Chair of the Board. Andrew Brown will be elected as his Deputy Chair. Annika Becher and Julia King will be re-elected as board members, and Judith Hartmann and Julian Waldron will be new members of the board. It follows from the Danish Companies Act that there must be information made available about managerial positions in other listed companies prior to the election here, and also about the general background. You will find this in one of the annexes to the convening notice. I'd like to hear if there are other candidates. That is not the case. I find then that Lene Skole has been elected Chair of the Board.
Andrew Brown has been elected Deputy Chair. Julia King, Annika Becher, Judith Hartmann, and Julian Waldron have all been elected, and some of them re-elected to the board. Congratulations. Yeah, it's all right to applaud. I can also inform you that besides the members now elected, we also have four employee-elected members of the board for the period until 2026. It's Benny Göbel and Katrine Collette Ude, Ian McAllister, and Leticia Francesca Torres-Mandiola. Right. Item eight, remuneration to the board. It follows from the company's Articles of Association and remuneration policy for board and management that each member of the board will receive a fixed amount in annual remuneration, which is approved by the AGM for the coming years. The proposal is for the amount to be unchanged from 2024, apart from the proposal for members of the new project committee that was established on the board in 2024.
This is the proposal. The Chair of the Board will get DKK 1.2 million. The Deputy Chair will get DKK 800,000. Other board members, DKK 400,000. Additional remuneration for the Chair of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee, DKK 160,000. Additional payments to other members of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee, DKK 100,000. Additional payment to the Chair of the Project Committee, DKK 160,000. Additional payment to other members of the Project Committee, DKK 100,000. Additional payment to the Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee, DKK 240,000. Additional payment to other members of the Audit and Risk Committee, DKK 120,000. I'd like to hear if there are questions or comments to this, or anyone wishes to vote against or abstain from voting. That is not the case. I then take it that we are all in favor of the remuneration to the board for 2025 is approved. Item nine, election of auditor.
In accordance with the recommendation from the audit and risk committee of the company, the proposal is for us to approve at this meeting that PricewaterhouseCoopers will be re-elected. This applies not only to the mandatory financial reporting, but also statements in connection with the sustainability reporting by Ørsted. Any other proposal? That is not the case. They have been elected. This brings us to any other business. Item 10, you can say an awful lot in connection with this item, but no resolutions can be passed or decisions made. Bjarne Hansen, you have the floor. If there are any other requests for the floor, please tell us when Mr. Hansen has the floor. Lene Skole, I would like to have a written reply to my question. Is that a yes? Good. My second thing, I know PricewaterhouseCoopers. Do they know about those 100-year loans?
Otherwise, I need to talk to the Danish Competition Authorities. I don't know whether they're represented here today. Thank you, Bjarne Hansen. We'll note that you would like a written reply to your questions. We'll make sure of that. About the accounts, I know PricewaterhouseCoopers is present, and I think I can confirm on their behalf that they're fully aware of that and there's an unqualified audit comment. Something is said off mic. We'll note all comments. Does anybody else want the floor on any other business? I don't see anyone who has asked for it. I conclude that we've come to the end of the agenda. I lay down my work, and I give the floor back to Lene Skole. I would just like to thank you all for participating. Thank you to the shareholders. Thank you to the chair of the meeting.
Thank you to the chair for guiding us through the AGM in a competent and pleasant manner. Thank you all and have a safe journey home.