Siemens Gamesa RecyclableBlades installed at RWE offshore wind farm

Siemens Gamesa (Zamudio, Spain) celebrates the delivery of green energy from the world’s first turbine equipped with the company’s composite RecyclableBlades. The first commercial installation of recyclable wind turbine technology recently took place at RWE’s (Essen, Germany) Kaskasi offshore wind power project in Germany, marking what is said to be a turning point in the long-term sustainability of offshore wind power.

“We’ve brought the Siemens Gamesa RecyclableBlade technology to market in only 10 months: from launch in September 2021 to installation at RWE’s Kaskasi project in July 2022. The RecyclableBlade technology was developed in Aalborg, Denmark, the blades were manufactured in Hull, U.K. and the nacelles were produced in and installed from Cuxhaven, Germany,” Marc Becker, CEO of the Siemens Gamesa Offshore Business Unit, says. “This is impressive and underlines the pace at which we all need to move to provide enough generating capacity to combat the global climate emergency. This milestone marks a significant contribution to Siemens Gamesa’s target of having fully recyclable turbines by 2040. With RecyclableBlade available for our customers, we can create a virtuous circular economy.”  

Using the RecyclableBlade technology enables full reclaim of the blade’s components at the end of the product’s lifespan, Siemens Gamesa says. Separating the resin, fiberglass and wood, among others, is achieved through use of a mild acid solution. The materials can then go into the circular economy, creating new products like suitcases or flat-screen casings without the need to call on more raw resources. 

“That we are testing in our offshore wind farm Kaskasi the world’s first recyclable wind turbine blades under operational conditions is a significant step in advancing the sustainability of wind turbines to the next level,” Sven Utermöhlen, CEO Wind Offshore, RWE Renewables, adds. “The first turbine equipped with Siemens Gamesa’s RecyclableBlades is generating electricity. The expansion of renewable energies must be driven forward decisively.”

A number of turbines at RWE’s Kaskasi offshore wind farm will be equipped with handcrafted Siemens Gamesa B81 RecyclableBlades, each with a length of 81 meters. The project is located 35 kilometers north of the island of Heligoland in the German North Sea. It will be comprised of 38 SG 8.0-167 DD wind turbines, generating 342 megawatts (MW) of clean, renewable energy for up to 400,000 German households. This is comparable to a city like Frankfurt am Main.  

The RecyclableBlade technology is also available for the 108-meter-long B108 blades used on the SG 14-222 DD offshore wind turbine and the 115-meter-long B115 blades SG 14-236 DD turbines.