Wind turbine from the early days are reaching their end-of-life. Although it is possible to recycle 85 to 95% of wind turbines’ materials, recycling processes for wind turbine blades are not widely available or cost-effective yet.
A major leap to address these challenges has taken place. For the first time, recycled glass fibers from old wind turbine blade are being used to produce new glass fibres for wind turbine blades, resulting in the manufacturing of a 115-meter-long blades for Greater Changhua 2b + 4 in Taiwan. This large-scale demonstration enables a fully circular use of glass fibres from and for wind turbines and shows the potential of such recycling route.
This is the impact of a major collective effort and strong collaboration between MAKEEN EnviroTech, 3B-Fibreglas and the project DecomBlades, where our division of Wind Energy Materials (WMC) participated with Asger Bech Abrahamsen and Justine Beauson as coordinators.
DecomBlades was a three-year project focused on establishing the basis for commercialization of sustainable recycling of wind turbine blades where our department contributed in the fields of material characterization, assessment of recycled material properties and finding application for recycled glass fibers and shredded wind turbine blade materials.
Another key feature from DecomBlades is the Blade Material Passport which provides basic wind turbine blade material and structural information making it easier to dismantle and recycle the blades. This will help industrializing the blade recycling industry, further reduce the footprint from the wind industry and create business opportunities for the composite that makes up the blades.
Anthony Fraisse, Head of section of Composites Manufacturing and Testing (COM) shares:
"The DecomBlades project completed in 2024 has been one of our flagship projects tackling recyclability, establishing a sustainability framework for wind turbine blade materials.
One of the main project outcomes are the blade materials passport supporting the decommissioning and end of life EoL) strategies for WTB. This is a crucial step for the development of efficient reuse, repurpose or recycling routes for blades.
Secondly, a proof-of-concept track has been established in the project to demonstrate the feasibility of glass fiber remelting in current glass fiber production. The impact of this study is high and opens the door to blade circularity.
For the COM section and WMC, it highlights our commitment as well as ambitions towards blade sustainability strategy that will in the future be addressed in other projects."
The success of this project was also thanks to the support and hard work from our colleagues: Adnan Bijedic, Agustin Canalis, Anette Damgaard Pedersen, Asger Bech Abrahamsen, Christian Hjelm Madsen, Hans Christian Jensen, Kim Ancher, Kristine Munk Jespersen, Rajnish Kumar, Steffen Rasmussen, Tristan Willem Hamers, Vagn Einfeldt Jensen, Mariana Rojas, Tom Løgstrup Andersen and Jonas Kreutzfeldt Heininge.
DecomBlades was a collaboration between DTU with Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, Vestas, Ørsted, Energy Cluster Denmark, University of Southern Denmark, LM Wind Power, HJHansen Recycling, MAKKEEN Power, FLSmidth. This project was supported by Innovation Fund Denmark.
We look forward to keep working and collaborating in projects like this, where the impact keeps resonating and enables ongoing contributions to advancing the next generation of wind energy.
Read more about DecomBlades
Related links:
LinkedIn - Ørsted
LinkedIn - Siemens Gamesa
