RWE has installed the world’s first offshore wind turbine featuring a CO₂‑reduced steel tower and recyclable rotor blades at the 1100MW Thor wind farm off the coast of Denmark.
Thor is set to feature 72 Siemens Games SG 14-236 DD turbines, which will be installed by the end of 2026.
Half of them will be equipped with steel towers produced with a lower carbon footprint, while 40 turbines will feature a total of 120 recyclable rotor blades.
Sven Utermöhlen, Chief Executive Officer RWE Offshore Wind, said: “Offshore wind already has one of the lowest life-cycle carbon footprints of power generation technologies.
“At RWE, our ambition is to go even further. By using towers produced with greener steel and recyclable rotor blades, we are further reducing the carbon footprint and taking a significant step towards fully circular offshore wind.”
Marc Becker, Senior Vice President of Siemens Gamesa Offshore, said: “This world-first is about moving circularity from promise to practice.
“RecyclableBlade is designed to enable composite materials to be recovered and recycled, addressing a growing end of life challenge.”
Becker added: “Together with GreenerTower, which lowers the carbon footprint of steel and reduces overall turbine emissions by around 20 percent, we are proving that sustainability can be delivered at scale in offshore wind, with safety, quality and certainty.”