Wind, Oil and Gas
Wind, Oil and Gas is Vestas’ vision, which expresses the ambition of making wind an energy source on a par with fossil fuels. Wind power accounted for the largest, second-largest or third-largest share of new power capacity in the EU and the USA in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Wind power has thus become a natural part of the modern energy supply. Among renewable sources of energy, wind power is currently the best means of ensuring that the many national climate targets are reached.
Vestas expects that, if the necessary political decisions on a national and international level to expand the power grid and appoint appropriate locations are made now, the share of wind power relative to the total electricity production can be increased from about 2 per cent today to at least 10 per cent by 2020. This translates into an installed wind power capacity of at least 1,000,000 MW, as compared to nearly 200,000 MW at the end of 2010, of which Vestas had installed a total of 44,114 MW. Along the way, the wind power industry, including the many suppliers, will be able to create more than two million jobs. The key to realising the potential is having long-term, national schemes that provide the industry with the necessary opportunities to plan and invest in employees, technology and production facilities.
National and local climate targets have now been defined by China, the EU and Australia, among others. In the USA, there is still a need for a long-term agreement on federal climate and energy targets to complement the green ambitions already defined by more than 30 states. However, the US subsidy scheme, the Investment Tax Credit, has been extended until the end of 2011. Nevertheless, the global economic slowdown and the credit crisis have made some politicians reluctant to go through with climate investments.
This gives rise to some concern as the necessity of action is clearly underlined by the fact that 2010, according to NASA, was the warmest year recorded in 130 years. The climate, the environment and the independence of scarce resources such as fresh water will henceforth drive political and economic developments, as exemplified by China’s ever-larger investments in green technologies. COP16 in Cancun, Mexico, was another step in the right direction. Vestas is confident that a fixed price of CO2 would promote the necessary climate investments because it would provide industrial and financial investors with a higher degree of predictability than the present quota system, which leads to large fluctuations in the price of CO2.
At the G20 summit in Seoul, South Korea, Vestas and other businesses presented a number of proposals to secure sustainable growth and green jobs. Vestas will also be represented at the next G20 conference in Paris, France.
Still more people are giving higher priority to sustainability. Consequently, Vestas has taken the initiative to launch the WindMade™ eco label, which allows consumers to choose products manufactured using wind and other sustainable energy. Companies applying WindMade™ donate funds for the installation of wind turbines in new growth markets. The final criteria for WindMade™ will be determined in June 2011.
