The International Windship Association (IWSA) has today announced that nominations for the second Wind Propulsion Innovation Awards are officially open. These awards recognize pioneering projects, technological innovation, and the key people and companies making a real difference in advancing wind propulsion as low carbon, truly sustainable option for the world’s commercial shipping fleet.  The 2021 virtual awards ceremony will be held during the second week of COP26 being held in Glasgow, an important event in our voyage towards a sustainable world and averting the worst ravages of the climate emergency.

“These awards are more than simply an industry innovation event, the majority of these awards will be open to a public vote and they are a celebration of a crucial toolbox of technologies and projects that have the potential to directly reduce human-generated GHG emissions by 1% globally alone, but could also facilitate the entire decarbonization of the shipping industry,” says Gavin Allwright, IWSA Secretary-General.

The first awards back in 2016 were very well received, attracting thousands of votes across its four categories, and as this year’s awards are taking place in the first year of the ‘Decade of Wind Propulsion’, the number of categories has been widened to seven, these are;

Wind Propulsion Innovation Award is open to developers of innovative technology and ship designs.
Wind Propulsion Technology User Award to be presented to any company championing the use of wind propulsion in the maritime sector through prototype testing or commercial use of wind.

Wind Propulsion Projects Award is for projects that are focused on policy, regulation, multiple technology development, R&D, network building, or business development in the field.
Small Vessel Sector Award is reserved for vessels and technologies developed for the small vessel segment, including traditional sail cargo, fisheries, small inter-island ferries, etc.

There are also two Research Awards, one for completed research papers/reports and projects that have been impactful and have furthered our understanding of wind propulsion over the last five years.
The second category is for exciting new proposals for research projects and papers. Finally, there will also be an Outstanding Contribution to the Wind Propulsion Sector Award

Nominations for these awards are now officially open and the deadline for entries is 1700 (CET), 04 October 2021. The shortlist of finalists for each award category will be announced shortly afterward compiled by a panel of over 20 leading industry stakeholders, academics, and wind propulsion advocates. From mid-October, the first four award categories will be open for public voting until the end of the first week of November (the first week of COP26). The research and outstanding contribution award winners will be selected exclusively by IWSA members. More details on how to make a submission can be found at https://www.wind-ship.org/en/wind-propulsion-innovation-awards-2021/

The full list of shortlisting judges will be announced shortly, however, sponsors for the awards already include; Wärtsilä, Yara Marine Technologies, Thordon Bearings, The Royal Institution of Naval Architects, Kühne Logistics University (KLU) Hapag-Lloyd Center for Shipping and Global Logistics (CSGL), Norsepower, Green Marine, Dealfeng New Energy Technology and eConowind.

“Wind propulsion solutions are increasingly being viewed as a vital component in the drive to decarbonize the shipping industry. This is a sector that is gaining a lot of momentum and has a really powerful and positive story to tell but still has a relatively low profile especially outside of the industry. We see that this is situation is slowly changing and we hope that these wind propulsion innovation awards will help to further propel that change.” concludes Allwright.

The awards webpage is:  https://www.wind-ship.org/en/wind-propulsion-innovation-awards-2021/

About IWSA

The International Windship Association (IWSA) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the promotion and facilitation of wind propulsion solutions for commercial shipping, facilitates and promotes wind propulsion for commercial shipping worldwide, and brings together all parties in the development of a wind-ship sector to shape industry and government attitudes and policies.

Network – create a clear sectoral approach, grouping like-minded organizations, and individuals that can share ideas, skills, resources, technical and market information for the development of commercial wind-ships.

Promote – promoting the economic value of wind propulsion to the shipping industry

Incubate – assist in securing funding streams, project collaboration, grant applications, research, and the pooling of resources.

Educate – act as a central information hub for the wind-ship sector, the media, NGOs, equipment producers, shipbuilders, ports, governments and the general public. Research papers, press releases, etc.

Facilitate – initiating the establishment of common approaches/criteria for all stages of wind-propulsion projects, advise stakeholders, and lobby legislative bodies on policies, activities, funding, and incentives required to retrofit, upgrade, and the new build of commercial wind-ships.

Archive of Wind Propulsion Awards 2016 – shortlist of projects, winners and judges http://wind-ship.org/en/innovation_awards_2016/