19 May 2026

 

As Europe’s energy transition becomes increasingly entangled with industrial competitiveness, energy security and public resistance to large infrastructure projects, sustainability inside major energy companies is evolving from corporate responsibility into operational strategy. In an interview with MoveTheNeedle.news in mid-May, Annika Ramsköld, Head of Sustainability at Vattenfall, described how the Swedish energy company’s transition towards fossil-free energy increasingly shapes not only emissions reduction, but also investment priorities, customer relationships and long-term profitability.

The conversation followed Vattenfall receiving EcoVadis’ highest Platinum sustainability rating for the sixth consecutive year, placing the company among the top 1 percent of nearly 90,000 companies assessed worldwide.

The EcoVadis assessment evaluates companies across four categories: Environment, Labour & Human Rights, Ethics, and Sustainable Procurement. Vattenfall improved its overall score from 83 to 86 out of 100 this year despite stricter assessment criteria, achieving particularly strong results in Environment, Ethics and Sustainable Procurement while also improving its Labour & Human Rights score.

Unlike many newer clean-energy companies, Vattenfall is attempting to decarbonise large-scale legacy energy infrastructure across multiple European markets simultaneously. The Swedish state-owned energy company operates across electricity generation, district heating, energy trading and grid infrastructure, placing it at the centre of Europe’s broader energy transition and decarbonisation efforts.

Today, Vattenfall positions itself as one of Europe’s leading fossil-free energy companies, with a target of reaching net-zero emissions across its value chain by 2040. Its activities span wind power, hydroelectric power, solar energy, nuclear energy and heating and electricity grid infrastructure across Northern Europe, making the company representative of the wider challenges facing Europe’s sustainable energy transition.

 

Turning sustainability into operational strategy

 

Ramsköld told us she joined Vattenfall in 1990 and has held 17 different roles within the company.

“Now, I’m finally in the right spot,” she said.

She described how sustainability gradually evolved from a specialised function into a framework shaping decisions across the entire organisation.

Back in 2014, Vattenfall’s leadership asked her to help place sustainability at the centre of the business. Two years later, the company rolled out a sustainability strategy across the organisation.

One of the most significant turning points came when Vattenfall aligned itself with science-based climate targets.

“Internally at Vattenfall we wondered whether we would be able to manage it because the targets seemed very ambitious,” Ramsköld said. “But once we set the targets in 2018, all of us at Vattenfall changed the way we worked. What we thought was impossible, we actually achieved within three years, 10 years ahead of time: we reduced emissions by roughly 30 percent. This triggered everyone at Vattenfall. People were proud and eager to do even more.”

Vattenfall’s climate targets were first approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in 2019, confirming alignment with a 2°C climate pathway. In 2021, the company strengthened those ambitions to align with the more demanding 1.5°C scenario. In 2023, Vattenfall became the first Swedish energy company to receive official SBTi verification for its net-zero-by-2040 target.

The company has reduced greenhouse gas emissions across its value chain by 56 percent since 2017.

 

Exiting coal — and changing the economics of energy

 

Some of Vattenfall’s biggest emissions reductions came from major structural decisions rather than incremental operational improvements.

“We took the clear decision to exit coal,” Ramsköld said. “In the Netherlands we closed the last coal plant in 2019. We also closed the Moorburg plant in Germany in December 2020.”

The closure of the 1,600-megawatt Moorburg coal-fired power station in Hamburg was seen as a bold move. Although the plant only entered operation in 2015, Vattenfall shut it down early after winning a German government coal-exit tender. Rising carbon costs, declining profitability and the company’s fossil-free ambitions all contributed to the decision.

On that note, Ramsköld pointed out that critics of renewable energy tend to ignore that fossil-fuel infrastructure is increasingly economically unattractive and does not have long-term financial viability. Closing coal plants carried financial costs, she acknowledged, but those facilities were also expensive to operate and maintain. Part of the savings generated by shutting them down were redirected into renewable energy investments.

She described sustainability as a framework balancing environmental, social and economic priorities simultaneously — often summarised as “People, Planet and Profit”. In practice, she argued, that means companies must consider emissions reduction, workforce stability, affordability and competitiveness together rather than treating them as separate objectives.

“Also consider that moving away from fossil fuels has made Vattenfall more attractive not only to investors and customers, but also to employees and commercial partners,” Ramsköld said.

 

Decarbonising heat as well as electricity

 

Electricity generation is only one part of the challenge facing Europe’s energy transition.

Ramsköld also pointed to efforts to move customers away from individual gas boilers towards individual heat pumps or district heating systems, where heat is generated centrally and distributed through insulated underground pipe networks.

Heating remains one of Europe’s most difficult decarbonisation challenges, particularly in older urban areas still dependent on natural gas infrastructure. Replacing millions of gas boilers requires major infrastructure investments as well as behavioural change from consumers.

For companies such as Vattenfall, that means the energy transition extends beyond building wind farms or solar parks. It also involves redesigning how cities consume heat and electricity.

The company has also focused increasingly on partnerships with cities, industrial companies and manufacturers in an attempt to accelerate broader societal decarbonisation.

 

The energy transition becomes geopolitical

 

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting European energy crisis accelerated another shift: energy policy increasingly became intertwined with geopolitics and industrial resilience.

Ramsköld said recent events forced many Europeans to reconsider the risks associated with heavy dependence on imported fossil fuels. “Europeans have realised they need to become more autonomous, also when it comes to energy supply.”

That shift has altered the political and economic logic surrounding renewable energy. Wind power, solar energy and electrification are increasingly framed not only as climate tools, but also as infrastructure tied to industrial competitiveness and strategic autonomy.

For Vattenfall, that means investing across multiple technologies rather than relying on a single pathway.

“Our investment priorities reflect our ambition to be a leader in the energy transition,” Ramsköld said. “We will continue to invest in wind, solar, hydro, nuclear and electricity grids.”

The company plans to modernise existing hydroelectric and nuclear facilities, optimise electricity grids and continue transitioning its heating business away from fossil fuels.

In its 2025 sustainability report, Vattenfall announced planned investments of SEK 165 billion between 2026 and 2030.

Ramsköld also highlighted circularity as an increasingly important strategic priority. Keeping materials closer to where they are needed can reduce costs, improve resilience and lower dependence on imported raw materials. In practice, that includes extending infrastructure lifespans, reusing industrial materials and improving the recyclability of renewable energy systems.

 

The difficult reality of scaling renewable infrastructure

 

Expanding renewable energy infrastructure at continental scale remains complex.

Energy projects often require years of permitting procedures, environmental reviews and negotiations with local communities. Ramsköld described timing as one of the sector’s biggest operational challenges.

“We have to match production and consumption,” she said. “The investment cycles involved are long.”

That challenge is becoming increasingly visible across Europe, where electricity demand is expected to rise sharply as transport, heating and industrial systems become more electrified.

At the same time, opposition to new infrastructure projects has intensified in some regions.

Ramsköld acknowledged that resistance has evolved beyond traditional “Not In My Back Yard” concerns into broader opposition to large-scale development projects altogether.

Her response remained pragmatic rather than dismissive.

“When building new infrastructure, we are very clear that this impacts nature and people,” she said. “We need to do it responsibly, remain in dialogue with stakeholders, and be open about both advantages and disadvantages.”

The energy transition also exposes tensions that energy companies cannot fully control. Renewable expansion requires major investments in grids, transmission capacity and industrial materials at a time when permitting procedures remain slow and public resistance to large projects is increasing in parts of Europe.

Balancing affordability with infrastructure investment presents another challenge. Energy companies must simultaneously finance the transition, maintain reliable energy supply and avoid placing excessive costs on consumers already dealing with economic pressure and volatile energy prices.

 

Why sustainability ratings still matter

 

Against that backdrop, sustainability ratings increasingly influence procurement decisions, partnerships and access to capital.

Ramsköld described EcoVadis ratings as both external validation and a practical trust mechanism.

“The rating is icing on the cake to some extent,” she said. “But it is also proof that what we are saying and doing is correct.”

In a company statement following the EcoVadis announcement, Ramsköld described the recognition as confirmation of the work taking place across the organisation.

“Receiving EcoVadis’ highest rating for the sixth year in a row is an achievement we can all be proud of. It reflects the commitment of colleagues across the company and the work being done every day to turn sustainability ambitions into concrete actions, processes and results.”

According to Ramsköld, customers increasingly request sustainability ratings directly during procurement processes. Strong sustainability rankings can also help attract commercial partners and employees.

That reflects a broader shift in how sustainability reporting functions inside large companies. Sustainability ratings are no longer primarily used for public relations purposes. Increasingly, they influence access to contracts, financing and long-term business relationships.

The six consecutive EcoVadis Platinum ratings do not remove the wider challenges facing Europe’s energy transition. Infrastructure expansion remains slow; investment requirements remain enormous and public debate around sustainability has become increasingly polarised.

But Vattenfall’s trajectory illustrates how sustainability inside large industrial companies is increasingly moving beyond corporate messaging and into operational strategy — tied not only to emissions targets, but also to competitiveness, resilience and the future structure of Europe’s energy system.

 

 

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