Corporate Turbines: Clarifying Alternative Energy Operations and Statistics

When a company claims to be environmentally friendly and sustainable, one should dig deeper to further evaluate whether different components of sustainable development are actually being integrated (or not). In Hamburg, our visit to Nordex, a European wind turbine company, showed us first-hand how a large organization thinks about sustainability. Just as important as thinking about sustainable results is the process of getting there.

At Nordex’s training facilities in Hamburg, our visit consisted of two elements: (1) a company presentation on Nordex’s history, business operations and practices, and its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) framework, and (2) an upfront visit inside facilities to examine turbine blades and technology, including even climbing into one.

To be clear, I felt the presentation was insightful in conveying the organization’s history and heritage in its innate sustainability practices manufacturing an alternative form of energy. At the same time, there were aspects that left me wondering how impactful the third party climate ratings and award designations actually were — particularly given how the presenter mentioned that Nordex provides some administrative funding in the evaluation process. I would have liked to hear more about how those accolades have directly impacted the company, its culture, and how the organization operates today.

After putting on foot protector gear, the visit inside the manufacturing training facility was educational for several reasons. First, we got the opportunity to view and learn about proprietary technology that involved algorithms to more effectively and efficiently start and stop the turbines in different contexts. Second, innovative design techniques directly combat the notion of noise pollution resulting from wind turbines, as these designs significantly minimize sounds emitted when the turbines operate. An interesting statistic gathered from this program is that per metric of energy generated, wind alternatives are in fact responsible for fewer bird accidents than other energy forms. Instead, the issue at hand involves more bats than birds.

These learnings from our visit to Nordex in Hamburg keep me motivated to continue educating myself on energy policy and how innovation can play a key role in producing more sustainable forms of energy.

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