With adjusted earnings before tax of 186 million EUR, Danske Commodities delivered a solid financial result within our guidance for the year. The result was mainly driven by a strong performance in our power business, while our gas business struggled due to a challenging environment for the gas storage portfolio and markets characterised by geopolitical risk. 

With the market conditions in mind, we find the earnings for the year satisfactory, and we are proud to say that while delivering these results, we also made significant strategic progress throughout the year: we strengthened our position within management of renewables and flexible assets, we expanded our global footprint, we enhanced our algorithmic trading setup, we implemented a new gas ETRM system landscape and we introduced a new employee value proposition to make Danske Commodities an even better place to work. 

Record portfolio of renewables and flexible assets

In 2024, we once again grew our portfolio of wind, solar and flexible assets, reaching a total of more than 14 GW under contract. This is an increase of 20% compared to 2023 and a new record for our company. 

Apart from the sheer growth in numbers, highlights for the year included signing the biggest renewables deal in Danske Commodities’ history with a 1.4 GW balancing agreement for Polish offshore wind projects Bałtyk 2 and 3 and going live with our first renewables asset in Brazil, the 531 MW solar park Mendubim.

Within the flexible asset space, we signed an agreement to optimise Kassø, the world’s largest commercial Power-to-X facility, located in Southern Denmark, we expanded our battery portfolio in the UK with the Welkin Mill battery storage asset and we reached the milestone of optimising more than 100 combined heat and power plants in Denmark, making Danske Commodities the biggest participant in the Danish decentralised market.

At Danske Commodities, we approach asset management with a portfolio mindset, understanding that renewables and flexibility go hand in hand as renewable energy cannot stand alone. 

Now active on five continents

A cornerstone in our current corporate strategy, ‘Transition FWD’, is the global expansion of our business model with the aim of being active on five continents by 2025. We reached that target when we successfully entered the Japanese power market in January 2024. In the coming strategy period, we will be looking into physical trading as we are gearing up to support the energy transition and the growing share of renewables in the country. 

In addition to the Japan entry, 2024 was also the year when we entered the Canadian power market, meaning that we are now active in all tradable areas in North America. 

Strengthened setup for algorithmic trading

Trading is at the core of Danske Commodities’ business. It is our trading engine and our market presence that allow us to offer balancing and optimisation services to wind farms, solar parks and flexible energy sources, and it is through trading that we bring energy from where it is plentiful to where it is needed most, thereby helping security of supply.

The number of trades conducted during a single day has risen tremendously over the past years, and in 2024, the number of average trades a day grew to more than 60,000. On peak days, we can even surpass 100,000 trades. Many of these trades are carried out by automated solutions overseen by our traders. When it comes to algorithmic trading, speed is of the essence, which is why we strengthened our tech setup in 2024 to make our algorithmic trading faster and more scalable.

Sustainable high performance. Together.

Working in an energy trading company means working in a high-performance environment. The people of Danske Commodities may be a diverse group in terms of education, age, nationalities and cultural backgrounds, but they all have one thing in common: they are ambitious. They have joined Danske Commodities to make a difference.

We take pride in fostering a workplace, where ambitious people thrive, and we want to make sure that they continue to thrive in a high-performance environment. In 2024, we introduced a new employee value proposition called ‘Sustainable high performance. Together.’, aiming at ensuring that our performance culture is sustainable over time. The employee value proposition outlines a range of initiatives to support this, including an increased budget for people development, employee-driven donations to charities of their choosing, a new health strategy and, not least, the so-called ‘Fuel Fridays’ – an extra monthly day off that our employees can use on any activity that fuels their energy. 

Outlook: challenging market conditions ahead 

In 2025, we expect market conditions to be impacted by geopolitical uncertainty and ongoing challenges in the renewables market. Based on this outlook, we anticipate adjusted earnings before tax for 2025 within the EUR 100-200 million range. Though the energy transition is challenged, companies like Danske Commodities, who can optimise energy markets and help balance supply and demand on a global scale, will only become more relevant as the world’s need for energy continues to grow. 

Despite challenging market conditions ahead, our strategic ambitions are high, and we remain as committed as ever to contribute positively to the energy transition.