ABOUT

Iberdrola, a European leader in wind energy, expanded to France in 2019 – facing the challenge of low market awareness. Iberdrola wanted to emphasize they are not solely an energy provider, but also a cutting-edge energy producer in wind energy technology.

4.5 million commuters pass through turnstiles daily, so we turned this into a new energy source – reinventing the turnstiles into prototypes of the world’s first underground wind turbines: the Turnstile Turbines.

We designed and created six prototypes capable of generating over 0.2 watts of renewable energy per person, translating to a potential of over 900,000 watts of renewable energy every day in the Parisian subway with its 4.5 million daily commuters. This is enough energy to power an entire subway line and reduce carbon emissions by more than 30,000 tons annually.

More than 30,000 people interacted with the prototypes, including a French senator who spoke to the press about the project, resulting in 130 million organic impressions. The project also crossed the Atlantic with American media personality Al Roker celebrating the work and challenging the New York subway system to implement it. A survey following the campaign showed that 73% of commuters wanted to switch to renewable energy after seeing the Turnstile Turbines. Turnstile Turbines demonstrated that with a little creativity and ingenuity, we can generate our own energy even in the most unexpected places.