Wind Power: Inside Vestas’ Sustainability Report
Vestas is a leader in renewable energy and is working to reduce its own footprint on the environment whilst supporting others with cleaner choices.
The company’s first CSRD-aligned Sustainability Statement shows significant progress, including through new low-emissions steel towers and the development of a circular recycling method for wind turbine blades.
“We continue to implement our global sustainability strategy and have made good progress last year,” says Lisa Ekstrand, Vice President and Head of Sustainability at Vestas.
“We are on track to both reduce the CO₂ emission intensity of our value chain and increase the recycling rate of our waste relative to production levels, leading to improved material efficiency.
“Still, there are challenges that we must overcome, as we remain committed to a science-based decarbonisation of our own operations by 2030 without using carbon offsets.
“Thank you to all my colleagues for your dedication, and to our customers and partners for your engagement.”
Vestas’ greenhouse gas impact
On average, the turbines Vestas manufactures are expected to avoid around 50 times the emissions they produce over their life cycle.
At the end of 2024, Vestas’ entire installed turbine fleet had the capacity to avoid 239 million tonnes of GHG emissions per year.
It also remains committed to the science-backed decarbonisation of its own operations and supply chain without the use of carbon offsets.
The company continues to source 100% of its electricity from renewable energy sources and is replacing existing factory heating systems with renewably fuelled ones.
Vestas says nearly 80% of emissions from its own operations are related to its service business.
A key initiative to reduce service emissions is the transition of its service vehicle fleet through partnerships with automotive leaders around the world.
From 2025, the company will be using a new hydrogen powered crew transfer vessel and it successfully tested the use of sustainable aviation fuel in 2024.
However, Vestas says it will not meet its 2025 Scope 1 and 2 CO₂e reduction target and will consider this when re-validating its SBTi targets in 2025.
“This is because our target was set before we re-entered offshore wind and our scope of activities therefore has increased,” the company says.
Scope 3 emissions
Steel and iron materials make up between 80 and 90% of a wind turbine’s material mass and are responsible for around 50% of Vestas’ Scope 3 emissions.
To begin reducing its steel emissions, Vestas has partnered with ArcelorMittal to produce low-emission steel for its towers.
The report explains: “By reusing scrap steel in an electric arc furnace powered entirely by wind energy, we can reduce GHG emissions of heavy steel plates used in turbine towers by up to 66% compared to traditional steelmaking.”
In 2024, Vestas introduced low-emission steel towers as a new product offering to its customers and it says it will expand its range of low-emission materials and transport offerings in 2025 and beyond.
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