SideWind

Global shipping is one of the hardest industries to decarbonize. It relies heavily on fossil fuels to move goods across the globe. Reducing those emissions without requiring fundamental changes to existing vessels is a significant challenge.

That is the problem a small Icelandic company is trying to address. SideWind, founded by Óskar Svavarsson and María Kristín Þrastardóttir, has developed a container-based prototype to generate electricity from wind aboard cargo ships.

The idea began decades ago. Óskar first envisioned using wind to support shipping while in high school. He recalls, "I told my teacher we would use the wind for shipping in the future. He told me it was the stupidest thing he had ever heard, because we don't need wind to accelerate ships. We have oil." The idea stayed dormant until 2018, when María encouraged him to revisit it amid growing concern about emissions.

They began investigating the concept, searching online and eventually filing for a patent in 2018. The process took years. They recently secured the patent license across 38 European countries.

SideWind's technology relies on repurposing damaged shipping containers. The company removes the sides and fits a Savonius rotor wind turbine inside, which is connected to a permanent magnet generator. The container also has photovoltaic panels on top. The system is designed to capture wind passing over the side of the ship to generate electricity. According to the founders, the rotor is built to withstand harsh conditions and will need to withstand winds up to 52 meters per second. The system operates autonomously, meaning it runs and controls itself without requiring manual oversight. This allows it to function even when other turbines might shut down.

The technology has moved from sketches to real-world testing. In late August, SideWind began sea trials. The prototype is now part of the Whisper project, a four-year EU-funded initiative involving 13 partners across six countries. SideWind is collaborating with Samskip, and the system is being tested on voyages between Denmark, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands.

The sea trials aim to establish whether the system can withstand the severe wind conditions of the North Atlantic while generating electricity. The founders are investigating if the wind pressure around the ship provides greater energy potential than conventional measurements suggest. They are specifically looking at whether the pressure pushing against the side of the hull is stronger than standard open-sea measurements, which could mean the system harnesses more power than initially calculated.

SideWind is the result of two people with complementary backgrounds. María studied accounting and economics at the University of Iceland and spent years working in auditing and financial reporting at Deloitte. Óskar had planned to study engineering but instead entered the painting and home-renovation industry, where he built practical experience. The founders have also taken on an engineering partner to help in the development of the solution.

Funding physical innovation has been a major challenge. Despite being a team of just two people, they successfully secured a EUR 1.5 million EU grant as part of the Whisper project. They also received small grants in Iceland, reinvesting them directly into prototypes. To keep the business alive, both founders continued working in their regular jobs, pouring all their available resources into the hardware while navigating the costs of development and production.

The founders are clear that success depends first on proving the technology works. They are currently evaluating performance and emissions-reduction benefits, but those results are not yet conclusively established. The immediate goal is to demonstrate a clear benefit to shipping operators.

The broader ambition is to attract investment and industry partners to help scale production. If the trials are successful, the technology could offer a practical way to complement other decarbonization measures. SideWind represents a test of whether existing shipping infrastructure can be made more sustainable through practical wind energy innovations.