RWE set to rig up first recyclable Siemens Gamesa wind blades for North Sea test flight
Developer to trial new design from OEM, which employs next-generation resin to allow separation of fibreglass fibres for reuse, at Kaskasi project off Germany
The world’s first recyclable wind turbine blades will be tested this summer at RWE’s Kaskasi project in the German North Sea.
The 81-meter-long Siemens Gamesa RecyclableBlades, laid-up in the OEM’s factory in Hull, UK, employs a next-generation resin that makes it possible to separate the fibreglass fibres at the end of a blade’s life for reuse in other products.
“This is not a normal rotor blade. It's a global first,” said the RWE CEO Markus Krebber, in a LinkedIn post.
“[The] new kind of resin [being employed] now enables the fibres to be separated and reused after the 25-year lifetime of the rotor blade comes to an end. They can be utilised in the automotive or consumer goods industry, for example.
“For me this is a great example of how constant innovation makes wind power even more efficient and sustainable.”
