Recycling wind turbines
© Siemens Gamesa
© Orsted
© AITIIP Technologiezentrum
© Lawrence Berkeley Nat. Laboratory
© BWE, Heiko Jessen
© PEMP
![Typical structure of rotor blades [6]](https://www.recovery-worldwide.com/imgs/2/1/3/2/5/3/8/13_Bild13_Rotorblatt-3d911a053890d8dc.jpeg)
© Siemens Gamesa
© Carbon Green
© LM Wind Power
Wind turbines have a relatively short lifetime lasting a maximum of 30 years. The size of wind turbines is steadily increasing, and intact wind turbines are being replaced by new and larger models even before their theoretical end of life. The following article addresses what that means for the disposal and recycling of such turbines. Market figures are discussed, while technologies and significant challenges are examined. The upshot is that the market for recycling wind turbines promises huge growth.
1 Introduction
2023 proved another record year for wind power turbines. According to the latest figures from the International Energy Agency (IEA), wind power has reached a share of over 7.3 % in global power generation [1]. In the EU, this share even reached 19 % according to figures released by WindEurope (Fig. 1). For the first time, with 1047 gigawatt (GW), more than 1000 GW power plant capacity was installed worldwide. Last year alone, with 116 GW, more new capacity than ever before was installed. The oldest operational wind turbines are currently around 25 to 30 years old. This is also...
