New service will enable recyclability assessment and sustainable end-of-life planning for wind turbines

DNV, the independent expert in risk management and assurance, is moving ahead in collaboration with Reodor Studios to create a digital service that will make it easy to plan for sustainable decommissioning and recycling when a wind farm has reached the end of its life cycle.

In the 1970s, the wind power industry boomed, and thousands of wind farms were built around the world. Now, 50 years later, the world faces a historic challenge: what do you do with a 300-tonne wind turbine when it has reached the end of its life? ReWind, a brand-new digital service, aims to address this key issue for the wind industry. 

Today, most decommissioned wind turbines are buried underground, for lack of a better solution. In 2020 Bloomberg highlighted the situation in Casper, Wyoming in USA, where 870 wind turbine blades are buried under a landfill. WindEurope estimates that 25 thousand tonnes of wind turbine blades will have to be recycled by 2025, and 52 thousand tonnes by 2030.

DNV‘s specialist team analyzes and develops reports for wind farm owners and operators, showing, among other things, which materials the wind turbines contain, how they can be disposed of in the best possible way, what can be recycled and how. Now, in collaboration with Reodor Studios, a Norwegian corporate venture and innovation studio, DNV will shape this into a digital service. 

“This service will enable wind farm owners to quickly assess turbine recyclability percentage and options, end-of-life planning, and sustainable decommissioning,” explains Matthew Geraghty, Founder and ReWind venture lead at DNV. 

The use of wind energy will grow, and with that, the need to replace older turbines and equipment to keep pace with developments. Indeed, DNV’s 2022 Energy Transition Outlook report forecasts that by 2050, wind will provide almost 50% of on-grid electricity in Europe, and 40% in North America and Latin America. New turbine types and bigger turbines, blades, and towers will raise capacity factors for onshore wind from 26% now to 34%, and from 38% to 43% for offshore wind by 2050.

KeyFacts Energy Industry Directory: DNV