Danish LM Wind Power, owned by GE Renewable Energy and leading the ZEBRA consortium, has unveiled a prototype of the world’s largest recyclable wind turbine blade.
The length of the composite blade, made on the basis of a special thermoplastic resin, is 62 meters. Unlike most composites, which are used to create flexible yet very strong wind turbine blades, a thermoplastic composite based on a new resin can be re-separated into resin and fibers after chemical treatment.
Thus, the main task of processing is solved: from blades that have worked out their time, it is possible to create not cement or other building mixtures, but new blades.
According to the developer, the next step in developing a new recyclable wind turbine blade will be to test it for durability. The tests will be carried out at a research center owned by LM Wind Power in Denmark.
The blade will then be recycled, and an analysis of the results obtained will help the developers decide on the advisability of launching a new development into production.
Earlier, GE Renewable Energy subsidiary LM Wind Power announced its intention to stop sending any waste generated during the production of wind turbines and even to package it to landfills by the end of the decade.