ASA Adjudication on Vestas Wind Systems A/S

Ad

A national press ad, for Vestas Wind Systems, was headlined "We power all of Spain". Underneath was a photograph of a Spanish village lit up at night; text at the bottom of the photograph stated "Vestas wind turbines generate more than 50 million MWh a year. Enough power to supply every household in Spain."

Issue

The complainant challenged whether the claim "Vestas wind turbines generate more than 50 million MWh a year" could be substantiated.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Vestas Wind Systems A/S (Vestas) said the claim was based on actual and estimated production figures and sent a summary of production data from their wind turbines.  They explained that data was sent from each individual turbine to the Vestas Data Centre (VDC) several times a day. They said they had 35,342 turbines in total, of which they had data for 12,627 of the newer turbines whilst they had estimated the figure for the remaining 22,715 older turbines. They asserted that the evidence showed from 1 October 2006 to 30 September 2007 the production from turbines for which they had definite data was just over 31,000,000 MWh and the estimated production from the turbines for which they did not have data was just under 33,700,000 MWh. They argued that the total produced was therefore estimated at 64,700,000 MWh; more than the 50 million MWh stated in the ad. They said the turbines for which they did not have data were generally their older ones and were not confined to one geographical area but were spread over the world. Vestas said their estimates for the turbines for which they did not have data were based on a capacity factor of 0.21 whereas their actual average capacity factor was between 0.25 and 0.30, and was always over 0.25. They argued that the estimate was therefore not exaggerated. They also asserted that the estimated figures were prepared as worst case scenarios.

Assessment

Not upheld

The ASA noted the evidence sent by Vestas showed that the turbines for which they had data represented around a third of their total number of turbines and that they generated just over 31,000,000 MWh a year. We also noted the evidence estimated that the remaining turbines generated just under 33,700,000 MWh a year. We considered that the evidence for the third of turbines for which they had data was sound and was based on specific data. We also noted Vestas had taken a number of precautions to try to ensure that the estimated data for the turbines for which they did not have specific data was not overestimated. We noted they had used a capacity factor of 0.21 for the estimated data to ensure they underestimated the figure. We understood that 0.21 was low and that the actual capacity factor of those turbines was likely to be higher and would therefore lead to a higher total output figure. We therefore considered that the estimated data was likely to be an underestimate and concluded that the two figures together represented "more than 50 million MWh a year" as stated in the ad. The claim was therefore substantiated and the ad was not misleading.  

We investigated the ad under CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation) and 7.1 (Truthfulness) but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)