Vestas by the numbers
Better use of energy
Vestas has a policy to purchase renewable electricity where available. By procuring renewable electricity and in collaboration with suppliers and authorities, Vestas seeks to ensure better access to renewable electricity. To meet Vestas' WindMade commitment and renewable energy goals, a wind power plant has been established internally to balance out electricity bought in countries where Vestas is not able to buy renewable electricity.
In 2012, Vestas' total energy consumption rose by 8 per cent. When index-linked to produced and shipped MW, Vestas' energy consumption decreased as the utilisation of the production facilities rose -- Vestas expects the index to decrease further as capacity is adjusted.
A high capacity utilisation increases energy efficiency. The key driver behind the increase in energy consumption is the increased production at Vestas' blades factories, which have increased the production of blades measured in tonnes by 42 per cent from 2011 to 2012. The production of blades is one of the most energy-intensive processes in Vestas measured as MWh consumed per tonnes of raw material used.
It is very positive to note that Vestas' share of renewable electricity increased to 89 per cent in 2012 -- up from 68 per cent in 2011. Part of this is Vestas' active sourcing of renewable electricity, another part is Vestas' owned wind power plants. By actively sourcing renewable electricity, Vestas has saved 110,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
On average over the last four quarters, Vestas facilities worldwide used about the same amount of energy to produce a wind turbine as last quarter's average.
The graph shows how much energy, measured in megawatt hours, is needed to produce a wind turbine with the capacity to generate 1 megawatt per hour. In 2009, for example, the average was about 88 MWh/MW, meaning the wind turbines had to run at full speed for 88 hours to produce enough energy to make up for Vestas' production.
On average over the last four quarters, Vestas facilities worldwide succeeded in drawing more of their energy from renewable sources. The company's renewable energy use worldwide was 51.8 percent, up from last quarter's average of 49.9 percent
Vestas facilities worldwide also succeeded in using more renewable electricity. The company's average renewable electricity use worldwide over the last four quarters was 89.0 percent, up from last quarter's average of 86.1 percent
The graphs show the proportion of energy and electricity that come from renewable sources.
On average over the last four quarters, Vestas facilities worldwide used about the same amount of electricity as the average from a quarter before.
The chart shows how much of each different type of energy -- electricity, district heating, gas, fuel and oil -- that Vestas factories worldwide used in production last quarter.
A note about the numbers: In most cases, the numbers presented here are based on either annual or four-quarter rolling averages. For example, the total displayed for the second quarter of 2010 actually represents an average of that quarter and the three quarters before it. This is done to smooth out seasonal variations in production and supply, to more accurately show trends in resource use at Vestas. Injuries and employment information are the only aspects not calculated on a rolling basis.