Although there are still challenges in recycling wind turbine blades on a large scale, efforts are being made to facilitate the processing of blades at the end of their life. This includes investing in new facilities and infrastructure for recycling, and developing efficient logistics and operational processes. Developments follow each other in rapid succession. Recently, Vestas and Siemens Gamesa in particular have made major strides. An overview of the developments.
Techniques and collaborations
Companies in the wind energy sector are increasingly investing in research into advanced recycling technologies aimed at recovering valuable materials from the blades for reuse in new products, such as chemical recycling, pyrolysis and mechanical recycling.
There is also increasing collaboration with partners from various sectors, including the chemical industry, waste processors and recycling companies. These collaborations help share knowledge, resources and expertise to accelerate innovative recycling technologies.
Below is an overview of the most important developments in companies:
Vestas
Vestas is a pioneer in the field of circularity, especially in terms of collaboration with other companies in the wind energy sector. In 2021, the company announced the Circular Economy for Thermosets Epoxy Composites (CETEC) initiative to jointly promote the circular economy in the wind industry.
CETEC was founded by a coalition of industry and academia leaders to enable circularity for thermoset composites, the material used to make wind turbine blades for commercialization.
As a result, last year Vestas presented a new solution that makes epoxy-based turbine blades circular, without having to change the design or composition of the blade material. The combination of newly discovered chemical technology allows the solution to be applied to knives currently in use.
The newly discovered chemical process shows that epoxy-based turbine blades, whether in operation or in landfill, can be converted into a source of raw material to potentially build new turbine blades. Because the chemical process relies on commonly available chemicals, it is highly suitable for industrialization and can therefore be scaled up quickly.
Through a newly established value chain, Vestas will now focus on scaling up the new chemical disassembly process into a commercial solution for all existing and future epoxy-based turbine blades.
Siemens Gamesa
In 2021, Siemens Gamesa presented the RecycleBlade , a recyclable solution for offshore wind turbine blades aimed at recycling fiberglass and other materials from wind turbine blades. The RecyclableBlade is designed so that up to 95% of raw materials can be separated and reused for use in other industrial applications such as construction, consumer goods or the automotive industry. The RecyclableBlade for inappropriate wind turbines followed in 2022. The technology is now ready for commercial use, both offshore and onshore.
On March 20 2024, the company announced it had signed a letter of intent with partner Swancor Holding CO., LTD. The collaboration strengthens Siemens Gamesa's RecyclableBlade production capacity. From 2026, the resin Swancor supplies to Siemens Gamesa will be fully recyclable. Through RecyclableBlades and ongoing partnerships, Siemens Gamesa says it is on track to make fully recyclable turbines by 2040.
Nordex
The Nordex group also has strong ambitions. The company announced at the beginning of 2023 that it was aiming to deliver fully recyclable wind turbine blades by 2032 . Currently, 85% – 95% of a Nordex wind turbine is already recyclable. For many of the materials used, there are established recycling processes for environmentally friendly disposal - especially for steel and concrete, which make up the bulk of a wind turbine's tower and foundation.
To achieve this goal, Nordex has participated in the European-funded 'Wind turbine blades End of Life through Open HUBs for circular materials in sustainable business models' , or EoLO-HUBS for short. The aim of the EoLO-HUBS project is to validate a range of technologies for the recycling of composite materials that will provide answers to the three main challenges for recycling waste wind farms:
- Dismantling and pre-treatment of wind turbine blades;
- Sustainable fiber recovery processes focusing on two alternative routes: low-carbon pyrolysis and green chemistry solution;
- Improvement processes for the recovered fibers, mainly involving glass fibers and carbon fibers.
Iberdrola
The fact that Iberdrola and partners take the recycling of wind turbine components seriously is particularly evident from the establishment of a subsidiary called EnergyLOOP. The main objective for this company is to recover wind turbine blade components and reuse them in sectors such as energy, aerospace, automotive, textiles, chemicals and construction.
EnergyLOOP started construction of an innovative wind turbine blade recycling plant in Spain in early 2023, which is expected to be operational in the course of 2024.
In addition, in September 2023, Iberdrola announced that it had signed a partnership contract with EnergyLOOP and Surus. With the arrival of Surus as a specialist in recycling and circular dismantling, the recycling chain can be made circular, and Iberdrola can further strengthen its circular ambitions.
GE Renewable Energy
At the end of 2023, the company announced that its partnership 'The DecomBlades' had demonstrated that fiberglass recovered from discarded wind turbine blades can be processed and melted into high-quality fibers good enough to be used in new wind turbine blades.
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