Wind Power Gets The Last Laugh As Trump Sails Into The Sunset

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US President Donald Trump began his war against offshore wind turbines with a bang in January, but the writing of defeat is already on the wall. Despite his efforts here in the US, the domestic offshore wind industry is not an entirely lost cause, and activity continues apace overseas. Additionally, the global shipping industry is beginning to rediscover wind power, a trend with significant potential to help push fossil fuels out of the maritime transportation picture.

The Strange New World Of Maritime Wind Power

New fuel and propulsion technologies are providing the global shipping industry with a growing menu of decarbonization alternatives, and old traditions are also at work. Wind power has been making a comeback. The options include modern but relatively conventional sails and sail-like structures, as well as next-generation devices that leverage wind power in new and different forms (see more hard sail background here).

The UK firm GT Wings (formerly Green Energy Technologies) falls into the latter category. GT Wings surfaced on the CleanTechnica radar in 2023, when it proposed the “AirWing,” a compact, space-saving, wind-harvesting device based on aerodynamic principles adapted from Formula 1 racing, aerospace engineering, and high-tech racing racing yachts. To emphasize the cross-industry inspiration, GT describes the general approach as “Jet Sail Technology,” with the AirWing model being the first Jet Sail available commercially.

The 2023 proposal earned GT Wings a thumbs-up from the cleantech funding agency Innovate UK, attracted by the potential for 10–30% fuel savings for retrofitted ships and up to 50% for new ships. The Innovate UK award of £155,000 enabled GT to conduct feasibility and commercialization studies. “Among partners in the project is the aerodynamics firm SABE Fluid Dynamics, which launched in 2019 and soon became known for its work in the Americas Cup sailing race,” CleanTechnica noted.

Not letting the grass grow under its feet, last year GT began work on the first major real-world tryout for the AirWing, involving a 124-meter cargo ship. Though not nearly as long as the biggest ships of today, the relatively modest size of the ship helps support GT’s case for a compact, energy dense system that takes up as little deck space as possible, making it an economical option for smaller ships as well as larger ones.

Next Steps For The AirWing Jet Sail

At the beginning of this year, GT Wings’ CEO, George Thompson, set the stage for the mass adoption of wind power during an interview with BBC News, in which he estimated that about 40,000 vessels, equal to about half the existing global fleet, could be retrofitted with AirWing devices.

In July, the UK government validated GT’s business plan with an award of £1 million through its CMDC6 program, earmarked for accelerating the development and integration of key AirWing systems including adaptive control, self-learning trim automation, weather routing, and propeller pitch control. The new £1 million award is the latest in a series of grants earned by GT, bringing the total to more than £5 million.

Last week, GT nailed down another round of funding, this time from the private sector. The effort — which yielded an undisclosed amount — was spearheaded by the firm Grieg Kapital, a branch of the family owned Norwegian firm Grieg Group. The parent company traces its roots in maritime industries back to the 1880s. Blackfinch Ventures and One Planet Capital are also investors in GT, among others.

“GT Wings is preparing for large-scale installation volumes over the coming years, driven by strong demand signals and a rapidly expanding order pipeline,” GT explained in a press announcement about the new cash infusion dated December 11.

“The investment will enable GT Wings’ growth plans, support the broader commercial deployment of AirWing™, and accelerate the company’s global supply-chain and manufacturing readiness, as demand for wind propulsion increases with an evolving regulatory framework,” GT Wings emphasized.

“Wind-assisted propulsion is one of the most cost-effective and immediate levers available to drive adoption across multiple vessel segments,” the company emphasized again for good measure.

The Significance Of New-Build Ships

Grieg family member Stian Grieg also chipped in his two cents for the press. “Wind-propulsion is emerging as a transformative technology for decarbonising global shipping, and GT Wings has developed a practical, scalable solution that addresses real operational constraints for shipowners,” Grieg said.

As evidence of the potential for a rapid transition, GT Wings drew attention to a census of wind-enabled propulsion devices on ships undertaken by the leading global certification organization DNV. According to DNV, a fleet of 52 ships is already operating with wind power on board, primarily consisting of retrofits. That doesn’t seem like a lot, but DNV also takes note of approximately 100 more new-build ships on order, twice as many as the existing fleet.

“With most installations so far focusing on retrofits, this surge in newbuild commitments signals both integration from the design stage and a faster pace of adoption ahead,” GT explains, referring to advanced materials and ship design strategies that can optimize wind power from beginning stages of ship-building.

What’s Behind The Demand For Wind Power

In addition to the cost-shaving potential of wind power, government policy can also motivate the adoption of new, fuel-saving propulsion systems. President Trump is not inclined to support efforts to decarbonize the shipping industry, but the rest of the world has sailed on, so to speak.

Front and center in the minds of GT and shipping stakeholders is the decarbonization schedule stipulated by the European Commission’s FuelEU Maritime regulations, which went into force on January 1, 2025. The schedule calls for an initial decrease of 2% in the greenhouse gas emissions intensity of the energy used by ships calling at EU ports, ramping up to 80% by 2050. FuelEU also covers methane and nitrous oxide emissions along with carbon dioxide.

The limit applies to all ships above 5,000 gross tonnage regardless of their flag, the European Commission emphasizes, meaning that US-flagged ships will have to obey the same rules as everyone else.

So much for American Exceptionalism. The only thing exceptional about the US today is the exceptional venality, malevolence, and outright criminality on display at the White House, or rather, what’s left of the White House. If you have any thoughts about that, drop a note in the comment thread. Better yet, find your representatives in Congress and let them know what you think.

Photo: Wind power is making a comeback in the global shipping industry, with an assist from the aerospace, motorsports, and yacht racing industries (cropped, courtesy of GT Wings).