Skills and systems from a range of industries will be critical to achieve sustainable recycling of materials and components from a wave of wind farms that are nearing the end of their life, a report has warned.
The study from UK innovation body Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, titled Circular Economy in the Wind Sector, details each of the materials and components that make up offshore wind turbines and the prospects of reusing them. It also details how supply chain opportunities and economic value are linked to decommissioning end-of-life offshore wind turbines.
It explains how cross-sector working is vital to maximise recycling of renewable power infrastructure.
“Technologies and experience should be sought and utilised from other sectors to support greater opportunities for material circularity in the wind industry,” reads the report.
“A focus on cross-sector collaboration and finding synergies between end of life materials from different industries will be essential in bringing the economies of scale and investment [that] are crucial to finding viable recycling solutions.”
The Catapult says suppliers are “keen and ready” for the challenge of offshore wind decommissioning, but it calls for a clear pipeline of work and timetable.
“Operator transparency around timelines, materials and quantities will support the supply chain to have the technology and capacity in place to handle and process decommissioned wind turbines,” says the report.
It also calls for wind farm owner-operators to work with equipment manufacturers to “determine where, how and what quantities of materials should be recoverable at end of life”.
Capacity gaps
The report lists a number of “circularity and capacity gaps” it has identified in the supply chain for decommissioning offshore renewable energy assets.
Recovering structures from the seabed is one of these. “Structural metals are widely recycled, however a technology challenge remains for the recovery of monopile and pile structures from the seabed,” the report reads. “Scaled technology demonstrations have proven successful for some innovation, however the question remains in regards to the level of material recovery that will be mandated by the relevant authorities.”
Similarly, there are issues for recovering subsea cables from the seabed. While recovering sections of export and array cables from the seabed for repairs is common, there is a challenge to scale up the technology to a level necessary to retrieve an entire cable from the seabed, according to the report.
Recycling structural metals is another sticking point. “While scrap handling and steel recycling exist widely in the UK, the onward manufacturing supply chain for the offshore wind industry is not local,” it states.
“The UK Government has recognised the critical role that rare earth elements play in achieving net zero as outlined in the Critical Minerals Strategy published in 2023,” it adds. “These materials must be recovered and reprocessed back into the supply chain.”
Other gaps in the process, according to the report, pertain to technological solutions for recovering and recycling rare earth materials; storage and re-usage of composite materials; reusing rubberised hydraulic hoses and managing the sheer volume of materials and equipment that comes when a whole wind farm is decommissioned.
Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult project manager, development and operations Vanessa Smithson-Paul said the research “follows extensive consultation across industry and the supply chain”.
“These conversations have helped us to identify crucial gaps, revealing the opportunities which exist for new technologies or solutions within a circular supply chain,” she continued.
“We’re grateful to the companies that engaged with us for sharing their valuable insights and helping us highlight the opportunities across the decommissioning landscape, showing that collaboration is not only critical, but desired across industry.”
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