Siemens Gamesa wind turbine blades are made from a combination of materials cast together with resin to form a strong and flexible lightweight structure. The chemical structure of this new resin type makes it possible to efficiently separate the resin from the other components at end of the blade’s working life. This mild process protects the properties of the materials in the blade, in contrast to other existing ways of recycling conventional wind turbine blades. The materials can then be reused in new applications after separation.
“The time to tackle climate emergency is now, and we need to do it in a holistic way” said Andreas Nauen, CEO of Siemens Gamesa. “In pioneering wind circularity – where elements contribute to a circular economy of the wind industry – we have reached a major milestone in a society that puts care for the environment at its heart. The RecyclableBlade is another tangible example of how Siemens Gamesa is leading technological development in the wind industry”.
Many components of a wind turbine, such as the tower and nacelle components have established recycling practices. Until now, the composite materials used in wind turbine blades have been more challenging to recycle. The Siemens Gamesa RecyclableBlade breaks this mould and is the first of its kind, enabling recycling at the end of its lifecycle, setting the path to a future where the full recyclability of projects will be a market requirement.
Siemens Gamesa has joined with RWE to install and monitor the world's first wind turbines with recyclable blades at the Kaskasi offshore wind power plant in Germany. Current plans are for the project to be producing energy from 2022 onwards.
The company is also working with EDF Renewables with the aim to deploy several sets of RecyclableBlade at a future offshore wind farm, and also with wpd.
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