Your ideas for WindShareFund were born in 2011. How did these ideas come about and how did you take the first steps towards the realization of WindShareFund? “I had my own business in real estate investments, among other things, but eventually noticed that this work gave me little satisfaction. Hard business that often lacked a form of idealism and a greater goal to be pursued than just realizing profit. I had the feeling that I wanted to contribute to a cleaner, sustainable world. Especially to keep that world in its current, breathtaking form. Then I started investigating how I could develop the idea with other entrepreneurs and professionals from my network. With WindShareFund I want to focus on sustainable energy, especially wind energy. A form of sustainable energy that has a relatively large impact. Especially in large volumes. We have realized investment funds that are used to invest in wind farms in Germany. I also realized that if I really want to have an impact on making the world more sustainable, you naturally have much less impact as an individual than with a large group. That is why we decided to make the funds attractive to private individuals with a low entry level of five hundred euros. In addition to an investment, it is also about getting as many people as possible to participate in the energy transition. Each within his or her own capabilities.”

So you have set up investment funds in wind energy that were not only intended for large investors, but which are also interesting for the average Dutch person? "Yes. And that low entry turned out to be a success! We launched the first fund in 2015 and it was fully subscribed within a year. We then decided to open a second fund in 2016 and the third fund was opened immediately in 2017. All signed up within a relatively short period of time. In total, these three funds have invested assets of a total of just under 25 million euros, brought together by more than a thousand participants. We are grateful for the trust of our participants and proud of the results achieved.”

Why did you specifically focus on wind energy in Germany? Isn't the Netherlands easier and more accessible? “My ultimate goal is to have the greatest possible impact on CO2 reduction and, of course, to spare nature from the extraction of fossil fuels by investing in alternatives. With wind energy in large volumes, you have that alternative at your disposal. You can of course also opt for solar energy or biomass, fantastic, the more the better, but wind energy is relatively the most efficient. That is why that focus is now being applied by us. One windmill generates as much energy as one hectare of solar energy. So the choice is quickly made. We have chosen wind farms in Germany because Germany is further developed in the field of sustainable energy. That development has already started there earlier and more strongly than, for example, in the Netherlands. Where, incidentally, steps are now being taken quickly. However, about forty percent of all energy generated in Germany is already renewable. In addition, our neighbors have strong, stable energy legislation, which means that every kWh generated by wind turbines must be purchased by the energy companies for a fixed kWh price. From that arrangement, that price is actually indirectly guaranteed by the German state.”

Suppose we invest in a WindShareFund fund, what happens to our money? “We issue bonds (ClimateBonds), so we collect money from all people who are interested in WindShareFund and therefore want to invest in wind energy. With that money and bank financing, we buy wind turbines in Germany. These wind turbines are located on the German mainland, are already running and generate green electricity. We sell the electricity generated to the German grid. On an annual basis, we generate large numbers of kWhs, which provide the proceeds to pay out the interest to our participants.”

How do you see the future and what do you want to achieve with WindShareFund? “By investing as much as possible in sustainable energy, we want to reduce CO2 emissions more and more. Accelerate the energy transition and thus ultimately combat climate change. We therefore want to make the company bigger, better and more effective to serve these goals. With this we do not only limit ourselves to the Netherlands, but we also want to create European funds in the short term. Initially, we will focus on expanding to Belgium, Luxembourg and France. In five years we want to increase our invested capital from 25 million euros tenfold to 250 million euros.”