For this French pioneer project, Q Energy is leveraging its own extensive experience gained from over 25 years of planning, building and operating wind farms, as well as the complementary expertise of specialized European partners. Renvo, a company dedicated to the reuse and repurposing of wind turbines, will play a pivotal role. With Renvo's support, machines suitable for the future location have already been identified and secured for overhaul.
Coverwind, on the other hand, is responsible for dismantling the wind turbines at the Plomodiern wind farm, managed by Energiter, in Finistère. Due to the planned secondary use, the dismantling process is significantly more challenging than dismantling wind turbines for recycling, as it is essential to ensure the integrity and reusability of the parts.
The overhaul of the nacelles and hubs has been entrusted to the Dutch specialist company Rengineers, while the towers and rotor blades will initially be stored at sites near the dismantling location.
“The refurbishment will enable the turbines to meet the reliability and performance requirements of a modern wind farm. By combining technical expertise and foresight, we can give the turbines a second life while ensuring their integration into a new project,” explains Samir Fakhfakh, Supply Manager at Q ENERGY France.
The collaboration with the law firms Stream Avocats and Pinsent Masons was crucial in ensuring the legal certainty of the various processes.
Unlike the European and global trend towards larger, more productive turbines, the wind energy market in France is characterized by its focus on smaller turbines. French developers still require a significant number of small turbines to meet the numerous regulatory requirements to which they are subject. Consequently, the construction of many wind farms in restricted areas depends heavily on the availability of turbine models adapted to these specific requirements.Refurbishing wind turbines is an obvious response to this challenge and is particularly relevant given the large number of wind farms that need to be renewed. Using second-hand turbines offers a complementary solution directly linked to managing the life cycle of the first wind farms, commissioned around 20 years ago in France.
This dynamic, made possible by the increasing suitability of many wind farms for repowering, is crucial as it ensures a sufficient supply and opens up new opportunities for decommissioned components. Many machines installed in favorable locations need replacing but do not require immediate recycling. After appropriate refurbishment, they can be re-installed in a new life cycle.
"We now have the regulatory framework, feedback from other European countries, and the necessary internal expertise to confidently tackle this new project for France. By reusing models adapted to French specifications, we can transform installation constraints into opportunities for CO₂-free production. Innovation is in our DNA. We were pioneers in repowering, and we will also be pioneers in the field of second-hand equipment,” says Guillaume Guémard, Q ENERGY France's Deputy Managing Director.
