R3POWER brings together the renewable energy value chain to promote the circular economy in wind farms
CETIM, together with Norvento, is leading the TransMisiones project, in which eight companies and four research organisations are seeking solutions for the sustainable repowering of wind farms through strategies for the reuse, recycling and revaluation of components and materials, minimising the environmental and economic impact of the sector .
R3POWER consortium meeting at CETIM.
At CETIM, together with Norvento Enerxía, we are leading the R3POWER project, in which eight companies and four research organisations are seeking circular solutions for the repowering of wind farms through strategies for reuse, recycling, eco-design and the development of new recyclable and repairable materials. As part of this initiative under the TransMisiones 2024 call for proposals, yesterday we held the first face-to-face consortium meeting at our facilities, as well as an international strategic planning workshop dedicated to learning about European funding opportunities for sustainable R&D&I initiatives in renewable energies.
R3POWER’s mission is to address the two main challenges facing the Spanish wind power sector by 2030: an ageing fleet, which will generate 20,000 tonnes of difficult-to-recycle waste per year, and the need to triple wind power generation to 451GW.
R3POWER solution
The solution proposed by R3POWER is to take advantage of existing infrastructure, develop advanced technologies for recycling wind turbine blades, and research new sustainable, recyclable, and repairable materials to create a more efficient and sustainable model.
To achieve the proposed results, waste utilisation and prevention strategies will be implemented using artificial intelligence tools, eco-design principles and the development and field monitoring of a circular demonstrator. In addition, a techno-economic and environmental assessment will be carried out to validate the sustainability of the results and, in 2028, an experimental wind turbine of between 600 and 800kW will be tested.
To achieve all this, R3POWER has a business consortium led by Norvento and made up of Renercycle, Temha, Girawind, Acteco, HI-Iberia, Aeroblade and Aerox, as well as a scientific consortium led by CETIM and made up of the University of Valladolid, AIMEN and Ciemat. Representatives from each of the partners met yesterday at CETIM to discuss the progress made to date and establish the next steps that will bring them closer to the main objective of the project: to implement a circular economy model in the wind power sector that will reduce the amount of waste generated.
Specifically, CETIM is leading the strategy for recycling and revaluing wind turbine blades. In this way, we will develop and validate advanced mechanical, thermochemical, chemical and biological recycling technologies to achieve a zero-waste model. We will also participate in research into new recyclable and repairable materials, collaborating in the formulation of sustainable composites. During yesterday’s meeting, we showed some of the research we have already carried out for R3POWER during a tour of our facilities.
Visit to CETIM facilities by R3POWER partners.
International strategic planning workshop
The R3POWER consortium meeting was complemented by an ‘International Strategic Projection Day’ on funding opportunities in Europe for sustainable R&D&I initiatives in renewable energies. In addition, a round table discussion was moderated by Fernando Val, Director General of the Association of Technology Centres of Galicia (Atiga), where attendees were able to learn about the process of creating a European project through two success stories from the Horizon Europe call: EOLIAN and SUSPENSE.
Óscar López, Head of R&D&I at Norvento, explained what it is like to be part of the EOLIAN project, which is developing wind turbine blades that offer numerous advantages over current designs in terms of recycling. Mar Castro, Principal Researcher in Lignocellulosic Materials and Energy Storage at CETIM, discussed SUSPENSE, an innovative initiative within the framework of the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU), in which CETIM is participating alongside 14 partners from different countries with the aim of developing and demonstrating innovative, safe and sustainable bio-based adhesives to replace conventional fossil-based adhesives.
Round table held at the “International Strategic Projection Conference”, within the framework of R3POWER.
The project “R3POWER: Circularity in the repowering of wind farms through reuse, recycling, eco-design and the development of new recyclable and repairable materials (PLEC2024-011036) is funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades and the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (MCIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) and by the FEDER, EU, through the call for grants for R&D&I projects in strategic lines within the framework of the Transmisiones 2024 initiative in cooperation with the group of companies receiving funding from the Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial (CDTI).
