Monday 11 July 2022

Sweden’s Vattenfall reduces carbon footprint of wind power

Sweden’s Vattenfall reduces carbon footprint of wind power

Swedish power company Vattenfall has reduced the carbon footprint of wind power to 13 grammes of carbon dioxide per kilowatt hour (kWh) generated, compared to 15 grammes in 2016.

Its new Blakliden Fäbodberget wind farm in Sweden landed at a record low 8g CO2/kWh, which is a 47% reduction in emissions compared to six years ago.

According to Vattenfall, having a higher proportion of modern wind farms with a longer anticipated service life and higher generation are important contributing factors to reducing emission levels as most carbon emissions come from raw materials extraction, construction of components, the construction phase and transport.

Its analyses reveal the greatest contributions to the reduction in emissions come from switching to fossil-free energy and making energy efficiency improvements in energy intensive processes such as turbine manufacturing and raw material production throughout the lifecycle.

As part of Vattenfall's commitment to net zero emissions by 2040, it has set a target to reduce emissions caused by purchased products and services by 50% per kWh by 2030.

It is also working towards recycling 100% of spent wind turbine blades by 2030.

Helle Herk-Hansen, Head of Environment at Vattenfall said: “The recently inaugurated, partially owned Blakliden Fäbodberget goes to show how technological development and knowledge provide a rapid reduction in grammes of carbon dioxide per kilowatt hour.

“Life cycle assessments teach us how we can improve our own performance, engage in dialogue with suppliers and collaborate with developers to reduce environmental impact over time.”

Written by

Bruna Pinhoni

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