Siemens Gamesa brings RecyclableBlade to onshore wind power projects

Siemens Gamesa (Zamudio, Spain) reports that it has again takes strong command of circularity within wind turbine blades, launching its RecyclableBlade (learn more about these composite blades) for onshore wind power projects. Originally created for offshore use, this milestone is set to make wind energy even more sustainable, Siemens notes, creating a fully circular sector.

The Siemens Gamesa RecyclableBlade for offshore was brought to market in only 10 months. It was launched in September 2021 and installed at RWE’s (Essen, Germany) Kaskasi project in Germany in July 2022. According to Siemens Gamesa, the corresponding onshore solution is now ready for customers to employ at their onshore wind sites. Further development by Siemens Gamesa and partners ensure full compatibility with the product and process requirements for onshore blades.

“Launching our RecyclableBlade for onshore sites is another achievement from our dedicated professionals,” Jochen Eickholt, CEO of Siemens Gamesa, says. “The concept was always foreseen to encompass solutions for offshore and onshore, and we’re pleased to now provide them commercially to our customers in both market segments.”

Both onshore and offshore markets around the world continue to set ambitious targets for installed wind power capacity, with the demands for ensuring recyclable solutions gaining more importance. Turbine sizes, and in turn their blades are growing rapidly, making it even more imperative to find solutions to ensuring their circularity. With the RecyclableBlade for onshore, Siemens Gamesa says it continues to put action behind its Sustainability Vision towards 2040 where a core target is fully recyclable wind turbines by 2040 at the latest. 

“We are driving the wind industry towards full circularity with our commitment to make wind power as sustainable as it can be at every stage of its lifetime,” Tim Dawidowsky, Siemens Gamesa COO and chief sustainability officer, adds. “Together, with our customers and our suppliers, we want wind power solutions from Siemens Gamesa to continue to help countries around the world meet their net zero carbon emission goals.”

The RecyclableBlade recovery process uses a mild acidic solution to separate the materials at the end of the wind turbine’s lifetime. Those materials can then be recycled for use in other industrial applications like construction, consumer goods or the automotive industry. In addition to the development of this recyclable wind blade, Siemens Gamesa says it is working with industry body WindEurope and other major industry players in calling for a Europe-wide ban on landfill for blades (see CW’s “Moving toward next-generation wind blade recycling”).