COMME RC I AL I NNOVAT I ON
FROM POVE RT Y TO PROSPERITY WI ND FOR PROS P E RI T Y BY V E STAS WI ND SYST E MS
North Horr, Kenya, may not always have access to food and clean water, but this remote community on the edge of the desert has one resource in abundance – wind.
An abundance of wind is the key to Vestas’ latest commercial innovation programme, Wind for Prosperity, which, by cross-mapping global wind currents and health data, is in the process of bringing energy to more than one million people in developing countries over the next three years. Wind for Prosperity is neither philanthropy nor development aid. It’s a commercially viable business model that seeks to attract private investors. Perhaps this is why the programme has received backing from a range of influential persons, from UN General Secretary Ban Ki Moon and business magnate and founder of the Virgin Group, Richard Branson, to Jeffery Sachs, renowned economist and leader in sustainable development, alongside others.
Wind for Prosperity combines two data sets: global wind currents and child mortality rates. Locate the areas where winds are strongest and mortality rates are highest, and the result is a map of poor, rural communities without access to reliable electricity, but with an Wind for Prosperity abundance of wind recombines two data sets: sources. It’s the lives of global wind currents and these 100 million peochild mortality rates. ple that Vestas seeks to improve in the long run. The programme will create social and economic benefits, which are currently scarce or lacking in the affected communities, such as access to clean water, healthcare, irrigation, education and a communication infrastructure. Additional opportunities are being explored in countries such as Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Vietnam and Nicaragua.
1.3 billion people around the globe live without access to affordable and reliable electricity
+100 million people live in areas with poverty and abundant wind resources
7,000 wind turbines will be deployed in rural communities through Wind for Prosperity
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Wind for Prosperity managed to attract attention from international as well as Scandinavian news media. The New York Times describes how Wind for Prosperity “aims to start supplying electricity next year to more than 200,000 people spread across roughly 13 communities in Kenya. The company plans to replicate the project elsewhere in Africa and in Asia and Latin America, using refurbished wind turbines in tandem with diesel generators to cut power costs by at least 30 percent”, while the Guardian emphasises as especially interesting “that Vestas aims to show that the do-gooder projects can also be profitable. It Wind for Prosperity was hopes to attract a varilaunched in New York ety of private investors, in November 2013. The including corporate ininitiative managed to vestors, to help finance attract attention from the program”. international as well as
Scandinavian news media and has received backing from a range of influential persons.
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HYBRID TECHNOLOGY TURNS WIND INTO VOLTAGE
“Well, I’m convinced that all businesses that will succeed in the long term will be those who manage to balance their pursuit of profit with a consideration for this beautiful planet and the needs of its people. These aren’t mutually exclusive goals, and there are many examples that show how it can be done. One such example is the Wind for Prosperity initiative launched by Vestas Wind Systems and their partner Masdar. Wind for Prosperity looks to address the momentous challenge of energy access. Well over a billion people worldwide continue to live without any access to clean power to light their homes and power their stoves. This affects their health, their livelihoods, their chances at prosperity. It disempowers women and puts children at risk. It’s an unacceptable situation, and we’re inspired by Vestas and Masdar’s vision to change it. Both have joined forces to develop a model that will bring clean and affordable electricity to communities that have never experienced it. Wind for Prosperity has enormous potential to change millions of lives forever while sustaining our planet and turning a profit”
The Wind for Prosperity project couples robust, factoryrefurbished wind turbines and advanced diesel power generators to create a hybrid system well-suited for operation on mini-grids in remote locations with limited infrastructure. Wind for Prosperity – a partnership between Vestas and, among others, Masdar, the Abu Dhabi renewable energy company – aims to supply clean energy to hundreds of thousands of people across multiple communities in rural areas within the coming months and years. The project will supply electricity at a cost which is at least 30% below the current price of diesel-generated power, the only viable alternative for populations currently living without or with very limited access to electricity. Developing the technology, however, wasn’t the most complicated part of the Wind for Prosperity initiative. “We decided we wanted to develop a technology solution that’s also a commercial solution, and it will enable us to bring wind energy to millions of people. Finding the technology solution hasn’t been the most difficult thing. The most difficult part is designing a business model that makes it attractive to investors, local business partners and the society”, says Morten Albæk, Group SVP and CMO of Vestas and the pioneer behind the programme.
—SIR RICHARD BRANSON
EXTRAS opposition.quartzco.com /wfp
Learn more about the business model and vision behind Wind for Prosperity and watch the interview with Sir Richard Branson about business as a force of good.
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