We have identified key materials fundamental to the construction of our global portfolio of renewable energy projects across offshore and onshore wind, solar, and battery energy storage systems (BESS). To enhance our understanding and management of resource inflows, we are actively working with suppliers to explore lower-emissions alternatives and aim to establish closer collaboration for obtaining data on the composition of their products, including the percentage of reused or recycled materials. Steel is a primary focus at this stage, given its significant role in renewable energy infrastructure and its high potential for recyclability. The use of scrap steel is a norm in steel production, with its content varying across geographies and reflecting established industry practices. Approximately 80% of the steel we source used in the production of steel plates for foundations comes from Europe, where supplier data indicates that, on average, 35% of the material used in these plates derive from scrap. While we account for geographic variability in our presentation, reflected in a range of 20 - 35%, our current estimates place us at the upper end. Lower-emissions steel offers a dual benefit: It minimises greenhouse gas emissions and, depending on the production method, can reduce reliance on virgin iron ore. Steel produced via electric arc furnaces (EAFs), which use scrap steel as feedstock, significantly lowers the need for virgin iron ore compared to traditional blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) methods that rely heavily on it. Even though recycled content is widely used in steel production, low-emissions steel still has a limited market availability. Closing this gap is key to cutting emissions, reducing reliance on virgin materials, and advancing a more circular steel industry. Thus, our focus is on sourcing lower-emissions steel, as it represents the most impactful opportunity to drive meaningful progress in reducing the environmental footprint of steel production. In addition to steel, critical raw materials, such as copper, aluminium, and rare earth elements (REEs), are essential for renewable energy technologies but present negative impacts and risks related to the depletion of virgin materials and the scarcity of supply. Improving the recyclability of materials such as plastics and glass fibres, including composites used in wind turbine blades, is a priority to reduce reliance on finite resources and ensure sustainable materials.

As part of our DMA, we frequently screen our assets and activities to understand their impacts, risks, and opportunities across our value chain. However, as also noted in the DMA methodology and due to the nature of our assets, we have not undertaken direct consultations with affected communities as part of the screening performed to understand our IROs related to resource use and circularity. Going forward, we will increasingly apply our methodology for life cycle assessments (LCAs), providing enhanced insights into our impacts related to the use and depletion of virgin materials when constructing our assets. Furthermore, we have calculated the recyclability rate of materials embedded in a representative sample of our offshore wind farms, to understand which materials and components we can process for recycling upon retirement of the wind farms. The underlying calculations, prepared in collaboration with the digital ReWind tool facilitated by DNV, are important for our further understanding of the negative impact of materials wasted during construction, operation, and decommissioning. Additionally, the information gathered helps us identify how we can turn used materials, such as steel and copper, into reusable components, improving our wider resource efficiency.