Vestas’ Electric Vehicle Transition in the US: Powering Wind Energy with Ford Pro

Author
Chelsea Sassara
Lead Specialist, Marketing & Communications

As the world embraces the need for sustainable energy solutions, Vestas has been at the forefront of revolutionizing the renewable energy landscape. With an extensive footprint in the U.S., Vestas helps maintain and operate nearly 15,000 turbines across the country, ensuring optimized performance of the turbines for our customers. Part of ensuring the smooth operations of our technology includes a reliable vehicle fleet that can transport our wind turbine technicians and their tools and equipment to often remote wind parks.

Vestas has recently taken a significant step towards furthering our commitment to our sustainability strategy by integrating more than 300 Ford F-150 Lightnings into our service fleet and Ford Pro Chargers across our network to keep them powered up. This transition to electric vehicles marks an important milestone in our efforts to reduce our carbon footprint while supporting the growth of clean energy across the country.

EV Adoption: A Key Component of Vestas’ Sustainability Strategy

As part of our comprehensive sustainability strategy, Vestas has a goal of becoming a carbon neutral company by 2030 without using carbon offsets. To help achieve this goal, Vestas has started a journey of transitioning our service vehicle fleet to electric (EVs) or sustainably fueled vehicles. In North America, Vestas’ service fleet comprises of around 1,850 vehicles; with our recent order of 300+ Ford F-150 Lightnings, electric vehicles will make up 20% of our fleet. 

To keep these vehicles powered up while maximizing our energy efficiency, we’re leveraging the interoperability of Ford Pro’s charging hardware and solutions that can be used not only with the F-150 Lightnings, but also across a variety of multi-make vehicles. 

This shift aligns with our commitment to reducing carbon emissions and promoting sustainable transportation solutions.

Addressing Unique Requirements of Wind Energy Operations

The location of wind parks across the U.S. demands a vehicle that can carry equipment and tools while navigating off-road terrain. Initially, when EVs emerged in the market, it was challenging to find larger options capable of storing and transporting the necessary tools our wind turbine technicians use when conducting maintenance or other work on a wind turbine. Therefore, the introduction of an EV pickup truck, such as the Ford F-150 Lightning, is ideal for our operations, combining utility, range, and sustainability. 

Mitigating Remote Site Challenges

Many Vestas service contracts are at wind parks located in remote areas, resulting in higher expenditures on fuel for conventional vehicles. The emergence of EV options presents an exciting opportunity, as the energy produced by Vestas wind turbines can now be utilized to power our service vehicles. By installing the Ford Pro chargers at sites, as well, we can further mitigate challenges associated with travel costs and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.

Additionally, our wind turbine technicians can power their tools with the F-150 Lightning’s Pro Power Onboard, a mobile energy source that powers devices and tools. This is especially beneficial in the remote areas we operate and further optimizes our operations to be more sustainable.

Collaborating with Industry Leaders: Why Ford?

As said by Michael Kraft, Vestas’ Fleet Manager in North America, “Vestas is on an ambitious sustainability journey, and we need to collaborate with like-minded leaders across the various sectors of our supply chain to reach our bold targets. With Ford being one of those leaders here in the US, incorporating the F-150 Lightnings into our service fleet was a good fit for us.”

Pictured: Michael Kraft, Fleet Manager, Vestas North America

Sustainability in Everything We Do

This year, Vestas was ranked as the most sustainable company in the energy sector, a testament to our unwavering commitment to sustainability. Our EV transition in the U.S. and globally is just one step we are taking towards ensuring our operations are not only sustainable but socially responsible.

To learn more about our sustainability strategy and our four key goals, click here.