Wind turbine recycling: Could this provide a glimmer of hope for millions of end-of-life boats?


Energy Observer. Image credit: Energy Observer Productions


Wind power, like any other renewable is clean, increasingly cheaper and emission-free, but for it to be considered truly green, it is important to evaluate its end-of-life environmental impact, says energy expert and onboard scientist of Energy Observer, Beatrice Cordiano.


Currently on its seven-year world tour to promote and trial new sustainable energy and propulsion solutions, Energy Observer is a laboratory for the ecological transition, conceived to push back the limits of zero-emission technologies. Hydrogen, solar, wind, and hydropower: all solutions have been experimented with, tested, and optimised onboard, to make clean energies a practical reality accessible to all.


Beatrice Cordiano explores the pressing issue of wind turbines that are coming to the end of their use. WIND TURBINE LIFE CYCLE


As the first commercial wind turbines came online in the mid to late ‘90s, they are now reaching the end of their operational life and need to be decommissioned. This raises the question of what to do with their waste.


As of 2022, the total capacity of all wind turbines worldwide has exceeded 906GW, enough to provide more than seven per cent of the global electricity generation. Wind turbines are growing taller, bigger and more powerful, offering the possibility of reliable and abundant energy.


Wind turbines do not turn forever, they are engineered to last at least 20 years and their lifetime can be increased with if they are properly maintained. They run about 7,500 hours per year, around 150,000 hours or more during their lifespan. And, sooner or later, the constant exposure to wind and weather will bring evident effects, meaning they


128 | ISSUE 109 | SEP 2024 | THE REPORT


will need to be taken out of use. That is what is happening for the initial wave of wind turbine installations – which, in Europe, traces back to the 1990s, mainly in Germany, Denmark and Spain – that today are approaching the age of retirement.


Once it reaches the end of its lifecycle, a wind turbine presents three possible courses of action: extend its operations by three to five years, undertake a repowering operation – the replacement of old turbines with more efficient models, making it possible to increase the output of the wind farm without requiring additional land – or, if none of these alternatives proves viable, dismantle the park.


By 2030, about 50,000 wind turbines are expected to reach or exceed 20 years of life in Europe, and from 2030 onwards, a further 5,700 per year will be added to the dismantling pipe as a result of repowering. One question arises: what will happen to this ageing and obsolete stock?


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148