CETIM will develop and validate advanced mechanical, thermochemical, chemical and biological recycling solutions to achieve a zero waste model in the wind energy industry, to deal with the large amount of waste that will be generated at the end of the useful life of this technology.

Spain is the fifth country in the world in terms of installed wind power, after China, the United States, Germany and India, and the second in Europe behind Germany. According to data from the Wind Energy Business Association (AEE), there are 1,416 wind farms in Spain in which nearly 22,500 wind turbines are installed and it is estimated that these figures will continue to increase in the coming years. Wind turbines have a useful life of between 25 and 30 years. As a result, by 2030, around 20,000 tonnes per year of waste could be generated from wind farms built before 2005.

And this is one of the great challenges on which our R3POWER project focuses, as it seeks to promote the comprehensive circular repowering of wind farms through strategies for the reuse, recycling and revaluation of components and materials, minimising the environmental and economic impact. To this end, it will take advantage of existing infrastructures, develop advanced technologies for recycling wind turbine blades and research new sustainable, recyclable and repairable materials.

In addition, in the project we will develop new sustainable materials that are easily recyclable and repairable in operation to manufacture new wind turbines under the eco-design strategy, which will reduce the amount of waste generated.

High-level business-science alliance

For all this, R3POWER has a business consortium led by Norvento and formed by Renercycle, Temha, Girawind, Acteco, HI-Iberia, Aeroblade and Aerox, as well as a scientific consortium led by CETIM and formed by the University of Valladolid, AIMEN and Ciemat.

Specifically, CETIM will lead the recycling and revaluation strategy of 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 the research of new recyclable and repairable materials, collaborating in the formulation of sustainable composites.

Currently, there are no industrially implemented recycling methods that have proven economic and environmental viability for the recovery and revaluation of valuable high-quality compounds, such as fibers and chemical specialties. Therefore, R3POWER will be a before and after in the wind energy industry, proposing the total or partial replacement of wind turbines to extend and proposing eco-design strategies in the manufacture of new blades.

The project “R3POWER: Circularity in the repowering of wind farms through reuse, recycling, eco-design and development of new recyclable and repairable materials (PLEC2024-011036) is funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades and la Agencia Estatal de Investigación (MCIU /AEI /10.13039/501100011033) and by the FEDER, EU, through the call for aid for R&D&I projects in strategic lines in 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).