Vestas

Vestas has governance structures that support its corporate strategy and sustainability ambitions. The Board of Directors and Executive Management regularly evaluate our capital structure and assess how we fund our operations and growth to ensure these efforts align with shareholder interests and support our corporate strategy. Our financial management goal is to ensure flexibility, financial headroom, and an optimal cost of capital throughout the business cycle. We aim to meet our long-term financial ambitions while delivering value to customers and maximising returns for shareholders. The Board's intention is to recommend 25–30 percent of the company's annual net result after tax as shareholder dividends, which will be paid out following shareholder approval at the Annual General Meeting.

An assessment of our sustainability-related goals, broken down into key products, services and geographies, is presented to the Executive Management and the Board on a quarterly basis, or, in the case of scope 3 and community engagement, on an annual basis. The Corporate strategy is underpinned by a foundation of 'Sustainability in everything we do'. All of our sustainability-related goals are applicable to all products, services, geographies, and customer categories.

Vestas maintains risk management and internal controls over sustainability reporting. We were, again, ranked 'the most sustainable energy solutions company in the world' by Corporate Knights in early 2025. Vestas operates as a global company with approximately 35,000 employees. In the area of sustainability, we work in both matrix and project structures with representatives from many different departments.

Our vision is to become the Global Leader in Sustainable Energy Solutions. By leading across our four business areas, Onshore, Offshore, Service, and Development, we aim to lead the energy transition forward. Our business model supports the wind energy transition with a comprehensive range of high-capacity onshore and offshore turbines, tailored to various wind conditions and geographic needs. We also offer extensive after-sales services, including operations and maintenance, performance optimisation, and repowering to ensure the longevity and efficiency of wind installations. In addition to our core products, we develop wind power projects, thereby expanding market opportunities and supporting the growth of global partners. We operate globally with a track record of 189 GW capacity installed in 88+ countries. Our full suite of wind energy solutions ensures we can grow market presence in regions with significant wind potential, serving a wide array of customers across multiple regions, including Europe, North & South America, and Asia Pacific, while expanding our offshore wind capabilities to new markets. Our main customers are utility companies, which seek to integrate renewable energy into their power grids. We also work with independent power producers that develop and operate wind farms relying on our technology to deliver consistent energy output. Viewed through the lens of sustainability and the ESRS, the key outputs and outcomes of our business model are wind turbines installed. The value we create for our employees, investors, customers, and other stakeholders is salaries, EBIT margin before special items, total recordable injuries and GHG emissions avoided. Viewed through the lens of sustainability and the ESRS, our key inputs are raw materials, capital employed, energy, and employee working hours. We gather these inputs through business relationships in the supply chain and in our own operations spanning from own workforce to contractors. Development and securing of the inputs is primarily through continuous improvement efforts, formal contractual agreements and risk mitigation frameworks taking into account any potential disruption of operations.

Partnerships are integral to Vestas' strategy. By collaborating with customers, suppliers, governments, and communities, Vestas fosters innovation, optimisation of the supply chain, and drives joint growth. These partnerships allow Vestas to deliver reliable energy solutions and play a critical role in the successful global energy transition. In line with strengthening partnerships, our customer approach prioritises value creation over sheer volume, emphasising the delivery of high-quality, profitable solutions. Maintaining a commercial culture, we ensure that projects contribute to long-term earnings growth. Priority customers have global account managers within Vestas, and leading access to our siting capabilities and attractive projects from Vestas Development. To succeed, Vestas maintains close dialogues with its customers and suppliers and places high demands on its entire value chain.

The sustainability matters that relate to our corporate strategy are mainly Climate change mitigation (E1), Circular economy and resource use (E5), Own workforce (S1), Affected communities (S3), and Political engagement (G1). The main challenges, critical solutions and projects are described under 'Impacts, risks and opportunities' and 'Actions and resources' in the respective topical sections. At the same time, with the growing demand for renewable energy, the industry has enormous potential, therefore Vestas is expected to scale. As we grow as an industry, we must do so sustainably, while accepting that it requires carbon emissions in our operations until we reach our ultimate emission reduction targets.

With the aim of addressing the new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive requirements from the EU in a reader friendly way, we have addressed the requirements in the parts of the report where they fit into the context. This also means that throughout this report, you will find codes such as 'GOV-1' and 'SBM-3' which refer to specific disclosure requirements or data points from the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). An index of the ESRS disclosure requirements and codes can be found on pages 212-213 and the definition of terms on page 210.

The result of the double materiality assessment shows that Vestas considers the following ESRS topics material: Climate change (E1), Water and marine resources (E3), Biodiversity and ecosystems (E4), Circular economy and resource use (E5), Own workforce (S1), Workers in the value chain (S2), Affected communities (S3), and Business conduct (G1).

We have set a target to achieve carbon neutrality of our own operations by 2030 – without using carbon offsets, and to reduce the GHG intensity of our supply chain by 45 percent by 2030, from a 2019 baseline. This involves a concerted effort to transition our vehicles and vessels to run on electricity or renewable sources, procure 100 percent renewable electricity, and procure low-emission materials, among others. Our current projections tell us that we will not be able to deliver on the 2025 target to reduce GHG emissions by 55 percent by 2025, however we will continue to adapt our strategy and transition plan to stay in alignment with the Paris Agreement. To achieve this, we plan to seek a revalidation of our targets in 2025, considering our new scope of operations, which includes our offshore activities, and complying with the SBTi five-year revalidation requirement.

Reduce scope 1 & 2 GHG emissions 55% by 2025 and 100% by 2030. Reduce scope 3 GHG emissions per MWh generated 45% by 2030.

Consumption of energy (GWh): 640 in 2024, 658 in 2023. Of which renewable energy (GWh): 214 in 2024, 213 in 2023. Of which renewable electricity (GWh): 166 in 2024, 166 in 2023. Renewable energy (%): 33% in 2024, 32% in 2023. Renewable electricity for own activities (%): 100% in 2024, 100% in 2023.

Scope 1 GHG emissions (1,000 t CO2e): 104 in 2024, 108 in 2023. Scope 2 GHG emissions market-based (1,000 t CO2e): 1 in 2024, 1 in 2023. Scope 3 GHG emissions (million t CO2e): 7.99 in 2024, 7.66 in 2023. Scope 3 GHG emissions intensity (target value) (kg CO2e per MWh generated): 5.66 in 2024, 6.30 in 2023.

Withdrawal of fresh water (1,000 m³): 323 in 2024, 279 in 2023.

We are committed to creating zero-waste wind turbines by 2040. Through our industry-leading Circularity Roadmap, we have outlined our pathway and interim targets towards this goal, one of which is to improve our material efficiency rate to 0.2 tonnes of waste per MW produced and shipped by 2030. Increase material efficiency rate to 1.2 by 2025 and to 0.2 by 2030. Increase rate of refurbished component utilisation to 55% by 2030.

Volume of waste from own operations (1,000 t): 44 in 2024, 44 in 2023. Of which collected for recycling (1,000 t): 30 in 2024, 30 in 2023. Material efficiency (tonnes of waste excl. recycled per MW produced and shipped): 1.0 in 2024, 1.2 in 2023. Materials recycled (%): 68 in 2024, 68 in 2023.

Safety is our number one priority. With effect from 1 January 2025, we have updated our safety targets from 1.5 to 2.4 TRIR by 2025 and from 0.6 TRIR to below 1.0, respectively, to reflect a shift in Vestas' risk profile, the inclusion of growing offshore activities as well as an overall increase in work activities across various areas. The aim is to implement more realistic short-term ambitions across different regions and functions which can lead to more consistency and focus. We want to be the most inclusive and socially responsible company in the energy industry and have set a target to increase the share of women in leadership positions to 30 percent by 2030.

Average number of employees (FTEs): 32,729 in 2024, 29,463 in 2023. Employees at the end of the period (FTEs): 35,100 in 2024, 30,586 in 2023.

Women in the Board of Directors at the end of the period (%): 60% in 2024, 43% in 2023. Women in top management at the end of the period (%): 26% in 2024. Women in leadership positions at the end of the period (%): 25% in 2024, 24% in 2023.

Vestas offers a comprehensive range of targeted technical, functional, and leadership learning opportunities. Throughout 2024, we provided almost four million hours of training globally. This commitment to ongoing training and development is reflected in the improvement of our 'learn and grow' score in our annual Employee Engagement Survey, which increased from 73 in 2023 to 76 in 2024. In 2024, we launched the Vestas Academy Portal to offer learning across all functional domains. In its first year, the portal attracted 60,000 visitors, demonstrating our commitment to continuously supporting growing the skills and capabilities of our employees.

Total Recordable Injuries per million working hours (TRIR): 3.0 in 2024, 3.0 in 2023. Lost Time Injuries per million working hours (LTIR): 1.2 in 2024, 1.3 in 2023. Total Recordable Injuries (number): 240 in 2024, 216 in 2023. Of which Lost Time Injuries (number): 97 in 2024, 91 in 2023. Of which fatal injuries (number): 2 in 2024, 1 in 2023.

Finally, we engage with impacted communities near our projects to minimise and address potential grievances and support local community projects. Community grievances (number): 2 in 2024, 3 in 2023. Community beneficiaries (number): 7,919 in 2024, 9,769 in 2023. Social Due Diligence on projects in scope (%): 83% in 2024, 59% in 2023. Reach 35,000 community beneficiaries by 2025.

We are enhancing engagement and integration with our supply chain partners, such as Maersk, ZF and ArcelorMittal, ensuring transparency on how our business and the market evolves. In the long term, reduced costs and inventory across the supply chain will benefit both Vestas and our supplier partners. Competent partners for a complex supply chain: Our manufacturing model is complex, with both a product and project side. The product side seeks repeatability, and the project side flexibility. By shifting our industrial system from push to pull, we aim to optimise resource use and supply chain lead time.

Finally, we will lead the transition to a world powered by sustainable energy by setting a strong example of a responsible and sustainable company and taking a leading role in shaping global energy policy to accelerate the global energy transition, with renewable energy at its core. As one of the leading voices in the industry, Vestas launched the 'This is not a wind farm' initiative in 2024, to highlight the growing gap between 'say' and 'do'. Launch of our 'This is not a windfarm' campaign, highlighting the need for having windfarm auctions redesigned and translated into real action.