This is not a wind farm

If the planned offshore wind farms were actually being built, the green energy transition could be brought back on track. But they weren’t.

The gap between what is being said and what is being done — the say/do gap — was largely caused by a flawed auction system.

The result? Higher energy bills. Fewer local jobs. Weakened national resilience and reduced control over critical infrastructure. And, of course, the continued worsening of the climate crisis.

The brief was clear: create awareness of the problem and present an alternative approach that both the public and policymakers can support.

At the time of briefing, 99.6 GW of offshore wind capacity was in the pipeline globally — with 77.3 GW still influenceable. A lot was at stake.

We needed to develop a group-level position and narrative that could support a unified Vestas language on the topic. From that foundation, we would launch a coordinated MarCom campaign with a compelling storytelling concept, backed by a structured PR agenda.

The goal: establish Vestas as a leading voice in shaping the offshore market.

Politicians have announced many offshore wind projects. New plans are celebrated regularly. But a plan for a wind farm is not a wind farm.

The paperwork, the press conferences, the goals and declarations — they are not wind farms.

Inspired by Magritte’s famous painting of a pipe, Vestas launched the “This is not a wind farm” campaign. On the final day of WindEurope 2024, Vestas President and CEO Henrik Andersen closed the event with a keynote introducing the campaign film and its key talking points.

The campaign rolled out on LinkedIn and sparked a regular love storm amongst people interested in or affiliated with the green energy transition. This was followed by a press push and several campaign bursts for various markets.

The campaign was so successful in driving Vestas' talking points that it extended beyond WindEurope — running in the U.S. and again at COP29.

Vestas was invited to speak on Bloomberg’s climate podcast and was featured in both business and industry media worldwide — positioning the company as a true thought leader in offshore wind.

The auction system is now starting to change. In 2025, Denmark, among others, revised its auction model and reintroduced government support — more than 50 billion DKK (nearly 7 billion EUR) — to ensure that proposed offshore wind farms actually get built.