Spain’s Iberdrola and engineering firm FCC have launched jointly-owned company EnergyLOOP to lead the recycling of renewable installation components.
EnergyLOOP will invest an initial amount of around $11m to build a wind turbine blade recycling plant at Navarre, in the northern part of Spain.
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The plant aims for recovery of wind turbine blade components, primarily glass and carbon fibres and resins, and their reuse in sectors such as energy, aerospace, automotive, textiles, chemicals and construction.
The facility is being planned at Navarre as it is a strategic location due to its proximity to some of Spain’s top wind farms and also has connections to other areas with ample wind farms.
It would be the first industrial-scale plant in Europe and is expected to position Spain at the technological forefront of this industry.
The Spanish wind industry, with over 28GW of installed capacity, will need to recycle or reuse huge quantities of wind turbines before other countries.
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By GlobalDataBy the end of this decade, it is estimated that around 5,700 wind turbines will be dismantled every year in Europe.
Turbine manufacturer Siemens Gamesa and the regional government of Navarre have supported this initiative.
Wind turbine blades feature resins to bind different materials, and these are generally non-recyclable. Hence, when the blades are decommissioned, they only end up in huge landfill sites.
EnergyLOOP plans to look at developing methods to recycle other components of renewable equipment such as solar photovoltaic panels and batteries.
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Image: Wind turbine blades feature resins to bind different materials, and these are generally non-recyclable. Credit: Iberdrola, S.A.
