A new industry group has been set up to create binding standards for the sustainable dismantling and recycling of wind turbines.
The Industrial Association Repowering, Dismantling and Recycling of Wind Turbines (RDRWind) has been formed off the back of a three-year research project at the Institute for Integrated Production Hannover, which ended in December.
RDRWind will function as a platform for project developers, maintenance and service companies, as well as dismantling and recycling service providers in the wind industry.
The first general meeting will be held in Wildeshausen, Germany.
In 2021 some 5000 wind turbines in Germany will come to the end of their 20-year feed-in tariff support under the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), growing to over 12,000 by 2025.
Operators will need to identify which components of aging turbines can be recycled.
The Institute for Integrated Production Hannover has developed a software model in the DemoNetXXL project, to enable time- and cost-efficient dismantling.
Institute for Integrated Production Hannover project engineer Martin Westbomke said: “The life cycle of a wind turbine includes disassembly and recycling.
“It is important to develop sustainable cross-sector sustainable concepts for people and the environment.”