A wind turbine at the Ormonde Offshore Wind Farm in the Irish Sea. The number of wind turbines around the world appears to continue to grow as governments around the world are trying to increase the capacity of renewable energy. This puts pressure on the sector to find sustainable solutions to blade disposal.
Ashley Cooper | Corbis Documentary | Getty Images
The major offshore wind farms built off the coast of the Netherlands are: Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy — The latest in a series of companies trying to tackle issues that have proven to be challenges for the wind energy sector.
In a statement on Thursday, Swedish energy company Vattenfall said that some of the wind turbines at the 1.5GW Hollandse Kust Zuid facility will use Siemens Gamesa’s Recycable Blades. According to Vattenfall, these blades use a “resin type that dissolves in cold, weakly acidic solutions.”
It explained that it allows the resin to be separated from other components in the blade (carbon fiber, wood, fiberglass, metal, plastic) “without significantly affecting their properties”. Then recycle the components and Used again.
Offshore construction of Hollandse Kust Zuid using 140 wind turbines began in July 2021. It is co-owned by Vattenfall, Allianz and BASF, with a test run scheduled for 2023.
Industry headache
The question of what to do when wind turbine blades are no longer needed is a headache for the industry. This is because the composite materials that make up the blade can be difficult to recycle. This means that they are often landfilled at the end of their useful life.
The number of wind turbines around the world appears to continue to grow as governments around the world are trying to increase the capacity of renewable energy. This puts pressure on the sector to find sustainable solutions to blade disposal.
Vattenfall is one of the companies looking to recycle and reuse wind turbine blades. This aims to realize a “circular economy” that minimizes waste and reuses and reuses products.
Spanish energy company in early June Iberdrola He said he has set up a joint venture with FCC Ambito, which plans to recycle components used in renewable energy equipment. Includes wind turbine blades. FCC Ambito is a subsidiary of FCC Servicios MedioAmbiente.
In a statement at the time, Iberdrola said the company, known as EnergyLOOP, would develop a blade recycling facility in Navarre, northern Spain.
“The original purpose was to recover the blade components of wind turbines (mainly glass and carbon fiber and resin) and reuse them in areas such as energy, aerospace, automotive, textiles, chemistry and construction,” the company said. I am.
