Wind turbine blades and components that are not currently recycled are the subject of a variety of experiments and pilot projects on which EDF Renewables is working, in conjunction with EDF R&D: recovery of fibre-glass blades and transformation into granules for integration into concrete or wood aggregate; reuse for street furniture (for example, the decommissioning of the EDF Renewables wind farm in Tenesa, Corsica).
Unveiled by Siemens Gamesa in 2021, a new recyclable blade design will be used by EDF Renewables on 10 wind turbines at the Calvados offshore wind farm. This is a first in France. Made from a combination of materials cast together with resin, this new blade model allows the resin to be effectively separated from the other components at the end of the blade’s life so that the materials can be reused in a wide range of applications (automotive, aeronautics, railways, etc.).
EDF Renewables, as a member of WindEurope (1), supported the Europe-wide call to ban dumping of used wind turbine blades by 2025. The European wind turbine industry is actively committed to reusing, recycling or recovering 100% of used blades.
Rare-earth elements pose a challenge for wind power, and only for technologies using permanent magnets, i.e. “PMG” (Permanent Magnet Generator) wind turbines. These may contain several rare-earth elements: neodymium, dysprosium, praseodymium, or sometimes terbium in their permanent magnets. Magnets represent on average 600 to 700kg/MW in Direct Drive (mainly used for offshore wind turbines), and 80 to 160kg/MW in Gearbox (mainly used onshore).
Due to the low volumes, there is not yet an industrial process for recycling permanent magnets in order to reuse rare-earth elements. The recycling of permanent magnets is under study and the first projects are emerging. Manufacturers are working on creating permanent magnet wind turbines without rare-earth elements.
In Europe, the recycling of photovoltaic panels is governed by Directive 2012/19/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 on waste electrical and electronic equipment, as amended, known as the WEEE Directive. Under this directive, producers are responsible for financing the management of waste from their own products, including the processing of products at the end of their life.
In France, more than 95% of the components are recycled. Rare-earth elements are not used in the manufacture of photovoltaic panels.
In France, Soren provides end-of-life collection (the average eco-participation in the purchase of equipment is €0.70 per panel). There are currently 3 crystalline silicon panel recycling plants in France. The materials are separated and redirected to various industrial sectors: silicon to precious metal sectors, the aluminium frame to aluminium refineries, junction boxes and cables are crushed and sold as copper shot.
