A new age of wind propulsion for cargo ships | Heikki Pöntynen, CEO of Norsepower

In this episode of Climate Positive, Gil Jenkins and Kenny Gayles speak with Heikki Pöntynen, CEO of Norsepower, about how rotor sails are helping the maritime industry cut fuel use and emissions. By harnessing the Magnus effect with spinning cylinders mounted on cargo ships, Norsepower is delivering 5–25% fuel savings today—sometimes even more. Heikki discusses the company’s rapid growh, including a new factory in China to scale production, the evolving policy landscape at the IMO and EU, and why ship owners are increasingly open to wind propulsion. 

Links

• Norsepower Website
• Norsepower on LinkedIn
• Video: How do Norsepower Rotor Sails work?
• Press Release: COSCO Shipping partners with Norsepower to enable a step change in the global rotor sail market
• Article: How wind tech could help decarbonize cargo shipping | MIT Tech Review |January 2, 2025
• Article: These 150-foot-high sails could help solve shipping’s climate problem | The Washington Post | April 22, 2024

Episode recorded on September 3, 2025 

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