11:50 CET - 05 Nov. 2013

“The public debate about wind energy and green levies in the UK is too often being distorted by factually flawed arguments and misleading information. The Act on Facts campaign is designed to bring the debate about wind energy back to reality. People in the UK want to see more wind energy; we can’t let a distorted debate stop that from happening,” says Morten Albæk, Vestas Group Senior Vice President globally responsible for marketing, communications and public affairs.

Tomorrow at the RenewableUK annual conference in Birmingham, Vestas brings to the UK and Ireland its innovative global campaign to separate rhetoric from reality and to channel public support towards actions that help wind energy. 

Matt Partridge, Development Director at REG Windpower says, “I warmly welcome this campaign. We are an extremely active developer and operator of onshore wind farms with projects across the country, and we see first-hand how damaging myths about wind energy can be.” 

He continues, “This campaign not only has the potential to help base the debate on facts rather than half-truths and rhetoric, but can also help us engage with the 70% of the population that nationwide surveys consistently show are in favour of onshore wind.” 

According to Maria McCaffery, Chief Executive of RenewableUK, “Wind power is overwhelmingly popular with communities up and down the country, yet sometimes this support gets drowned out in the media by a small but highly vocal minority.  It is very important that wind supporters feel more confident about speaking out. They have nothing to fear because the facts are on their side.”

• six newly-produced vox pop videos addressing key misconceptions about wind energy; 
• an expanded section featuring well-documented, fact-based information to help answer common questions about wind energy and dispel some of the more common myths and misconceptions; 
• new functions such as Supporters’ Corner and Community Stories sections; and,
• up-to-date information on pro-wind and pro-climate initiatives in which local citizens can engage. 

People in 99 countries have visited the Act on Facts web portal since the pilot program was launched in Australia in June.  Since its inception, more than 1.2 million people have been exposed to the campaign via multiple social media channels.

The Act on Facts UK-Ireland launch event starts at 12.30pm on November 6, at the Vestas exhibition stand at the RenewableUK annual conference.  Sarah Merrick, Vestas Head of Public Affairs UK and Ireland will give an overview of the campaign and its aims and demonstrate the web portal’s functions; and Matt Partridge, Development Director at REG Windpower will outline what he hopes the campaign will bring to the UK wind debate.

For more information on Act on Facts:

Or contact: 

In UK:

Sarah Merrick,

Head of Public Affairs, UK and Ireland

Mobile: +44(0)7552 120942

Globally:

Michael Zarin,

Head of External Communications, Vestas Wind Systems A/S

Mobile: +45 4084 1526

About Vestas

Every single day, Vestas wind turbines deliver clean energy that supports the global fight against climate change. Wind power from Vestas’ almost 50,000 wind turbines currently reduces carbon emissions by over 60 million tons of CO2 every year, while at the same time building energy security and independence. 

Today, Vestas has delivered wind energy in 73 countries, providing jobs for around 17,000 passionate people at our service and project sites, research facilities, factories and offices all over the world. With 62 per cent more megawatts installed than our closest competitor and more than 57 GW of cumulative installed capacity worldwide, Vestas is the world leader in wind energy.