Vestas Ventures has invested in Swedish wood technology company Modvion, in a move towards creating fully sustainable products and solutions, and reducing carbon emissions from our value chain.
Vestas will be becoming a minority investor in the bio-composite specialist, and marks the first official investment from newly established corporate venture capital arm, Vestas Ventures.
Modvion specialises in the development and manufacturing of wind turbine towers made from laminated veneer lumber (LVL), a bio-composite material sourced sustainably from a supplier network, and validated to uphold robust reforestation strategies.
Modvion towers are expected to reduce carbon emissions by 80 percent for the wind turbine tower as compared directly with the value chain of a conventional steel tower. The reduced weight of an LVL tower and lower CO2 intensity of the materials contribute to the overall reduction in CO2 emissions.
“The modular nature of Modvion’s design approach, and the possibilities for increased hub heights could contribute to a reduction in cost of energy for Vestas customers, along with increased ease of transportation in logistically challenged markets. Introducing an LVL tower variant could lead Vestas to become less reliant on steel prices, supporting our ongoing growth journey,” said Bo Svoldgaard, senior vice president and head of Innovation and Concepts at Vestas.
As part of Vestas’ commitment to reduce carbon emissions across our supply chain by 45 percent per MWh delivered to the market by 2030, Vestas will be leveraging our position as an investor to support Modvion’s scale-up strategy, with a long-term goal of integrating LVL towers into our design and manufacturing processes, to enable a more sustainable solution offering.
Modvion’s tower design has the potential to align with Vestas’ modular approach to product architecture, and plans for offering a ‘green’ tower variant are already in development, whereby Vestas will aim to strengthen our ability to support customers in their sustainability journey, while continuing to offer cost-competitive solutions, said Lisa Ekstrand, senior director and head of Sustainability at Vestas.