Recycling & Repowering
Does everything have an end? Recycled turbines actually don’t! The average lifespan of wind turbines is between 20 and 30 years – and then what? Sustainability also means fine-tuning after-use concepts. Since 2021, turbines have been excluded from EEG subsidies because they are older than 20 and can then be operated economically without fail. What then? By 2025, the question of “and then?” will arise for around 8,000 plants. In addition to a “second life”, made possible by the international market for second-hand turbines, the central answers include recycling and repowering in various forms. They make wind energy even more sustainable. In Recycling, as many of the materials used as possible are returned to the economic cycle – for a minimal impact on the environment. Overall, a recycling rate of 80 to 90 percent can be achieved! Rotor blades, for example, can become building and insulating materials. Reusable materials such as copper, aluminum, electrical scrap, neodymium and plastics can be found in cables and drive trains, control elements or generators. Repowering, a central aspect of the modern wind energy industry, involves replacing old, less powerful wind turbines with new, more powerful ones before their expiry date. In this way, fewer turbines in a smaller area produce incomparably more power. Advantage: Extensive planning and approval procedures, as with the development of new areas, are not necessary.
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