EJQ1 - Summer 2024 - Journal - Page 23
The environmental cost of decommissioning
One of the challenges with older clean energy technologies is ensuring
they have a minimal impact on the environment when components are no
longer in use.
According to a fact sheet created by the Canadian Renewable Energy
Association, approximately 85-90 per cent of turbine components can
be recycled. Steel, copper, and concrete used in the windfarm can be
recycled e昀케ciently, as these types of products already have an established
demand.
Separating the 昀椀bers, epoxy, and other functional components used in
the blades is not always an option, but there are several sustainable, endof-life repurposing strategies for wind turbine blades made of composite
materials.
There is not much demand for recycled 昀椀berglass, given that the raw
materials are so inexpensive, nor is there much supply, as most wind
turbine blades have not yet reached their end of primary use in Canada.
But various recycling methods do exist currently, such as grinding pieces
down to various sizes for use as 昀椀ller material in concrete. In some cases,
wind turbine blades have been re-used for a variety of structures such as
car ports, pedestrian bridges and play structures.
Organizations like WindEurope are working with researchers from around
the world to discover new ways to utilize all windfarm components,
helping to increase the volume of materials that can be recycled or
upcycled once a turbine or farm has been decommissioned. There is also
the SADC of Matane with the collaboration of Université de Sherbrooke
that works on a R&D project to, eventually, fully integrate blade 昀椀bre
residues in concrete and have a 昀椀nancially viable process for doing so.
Regardless of the next steps taken, it’s important to start the next part
of the journey in the right way. Make sure to have experts on board who
can advise you on what is technically feasible and of all of the regulatory
and industry practices that are necessary to continue to operate, for
decommissioning, rehabilitating, or rebuilding the windfarm.
Manuel Plamondon-Ratte is the national market
lead, wind & renewable structural engineer for
WSP in Canada.
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