Vestas is to present a new solution that renders the material from epoxy-based turbine blades reusable as future turbines rotors, without the need for changing the design or composition of blade material.
Combining newly discovered chemical technology developed within the CETEC initiative, and partnerships with Olin and Stena Recycling, the solution can be applied to blades currently in operation.
Once matured, this will eliminate the need for blade redesign, or landfill disposal of epoxy-based blades when they are decommissioned.
Vestas vice president and head of sustainability Lisa Ekstrand said: “Until now, the wind industry has believed that turbine blade material calls for a new approach to design and manufacture to be either recyclable, or beyond this, circular, at end of life.
“Going forward, we can now view old epoxy-based blades as a source of raw material.
“Once this new technology is implemented at scale, legacy blade material currently sitting in landfill, as well as blade material in active windfarms, can be disassembled, and re-used.
“This signals a new era for the wind industry, and accelerates our journey towards achieving circularity.”
Turbine blades have previously been challenging to recycle due to the chemical properties of epoxy resin, a resilient substance that was believed to be impossible to break down into re-usable components.
This has led to many technology leaders attempting to replace or modify epoxy resin with alternatives that can be more easily treated.
Vestas’ solution is enabled by a novel chemical process that can chemically break down epoxy resin into virgin-grade materials.
The chemical process was developed in collaboration with Aarhus University, Danish Technological Institute, and Olin the partners of the CETEC project, a coalition of industry and academia established to investigate circular technology for turbine blades.
Through a newly established value chain, supported by Nordic recycling leader Stena Recycling and global epoxy manufacturer Olin, Vestas will now focus on scaling up the novel chemical disassembly process into a commercial solution.
Once mature, the solution will signal the beginning of a circular economy for all existing, and future epoxy-based turbine blades.
Once mature, the new solution will provide Vestas with the opportunity to produce new turbine blades made from reused blade material.
In the future, the new solution also signals the possibility to make all epoxy-based composite material a source of raw material for a broader circular economy, potentially encompassing industries beyond wind energy.