08.02.2022
Decarbonising renewable energy supply chains is a challenge no company can solve by itself. At Ørsted, we firmly believe that collaboration inside and outside the energy industry is the key to success. We caught up with three of our strategic suppliers to get their perspectives on supply chain decarbonisation.
Hi Jonas! Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your role?
I'm a Global Sustainability Specialist in Siemens Gamesa, so I'm the focal point for sustainability-related matters, especially towards our customers. I try to analyse our customers’ demands and translate them into actions, whether in procurement, technology, operations, and so on. It's a broad role with sustainability in the centre.
I have a background as an environmental engineer, and I have a PhD on sustainability in the wind business. When I was studying there were still discussions about whether climate change was real or not; the last eight years have really transformed the debate. That's true in the corporate world as well. We used to think about green products, now we think about sustainability as a core part of strategy.
What’s the biggest challenge you face, and how are you addressing it?
Siemens Gamesa produces wind turbines, and when it comes to decarbonisation, our biggest challenge is the manufacturing of the wind turbines themselves. Steel makes up most of the tower and is used in other components, too; fully decarbonised steel would halve the carbon footprint of a wind turbine.
When you’re facing a big challenge, you need a target, and in 2021, we moved our net-zero emissions target forward by a decade, with an aim to reach net-zero by 2040 instead 2050. One reason for this was our engagement with Ørsted: It’s very important for us to meet the expectations of our customers, not just in terms of the product, but in terms of sustainability across our value chain. We also believe that by being ahead of the curve we can help motivate others and catalyse change, giving our global society a chance to reach the goals of the Paris agreement.
Of course, targets are nothing without actions. Our aim is to develop steel based on hydrogen and green electricity, thereby eliminating carbon emissions. We see early signs that this can be done, but it needs to be proven on a commercial scale.
How do you collaborate with others to achieve your decarbonisation goals?
Most importantly, we collaborate with our suppliers, and our approach draws on Ørsted’s supply chain decarbonisation programme: With each commodity, we’re introducing sustainability-oriented measures to drive the transition towards decarbonisation. And we’re asking 30 % of our supply chain by spend to have science-based reduction targets by 2025 at the latest.
Looking at it more broadly, I think that collaboration between companies and governments is critical. In particular, it would be great to see decarbonisation as a criterion in renewable energy auctions so that those who’re investing in decarbonisation solutions aren’t losing out because of a potential impact on the price.
In 2020 Siemens Gamesa became one of the first renewable energy manufacturer to have its emissions reductions targets approved by the Science-based Targets Initiative. They aim to become net-zero across their operations by 2040, on a par with Ørsted’s own ambition. Ørsted has worked closely with Siemens Gamesa to integrate more efficient wind turbines into our projects, helping to drive down emissions intensity in the supply chain.
Ørsted and Siemens Gamesa share the challenge of reducing emissions from steel, and Ørsted welcomes Siemens Gamesa’s own supplier decarbonization programme, which contributes to the needed collaboration on reducing emissions across our shared value chain.
