Today, around 85-90% of a wind turbine’s total mass can be recycled. Components such as the foundation and tower have established recycling practices. The blades are more challenging to recycle, mainly due to their complex design and the glass fibre and carbon fibre reinforced thermoset composites used in their manufacture.

Technologies to recycle exist to blades exist but these solutions are not yet widely available or economically competitive. The options for direct repurposing end-of-use blades are limited and this is likely to remain a niche market.

The EOLIAN project will explore the possibilities of using vitrimer-based composite materials in wind blades.

Vitrimers combine the performance of thermoset polymers with the processability benefits of thermoplastics and enable the manufacture of composite structures that are easier to reuse and recycle, and repair.

Vitrimers will pave the way to different end-of-life opportunities for wind blades.

Reuse

Vitrimer composites can be reprocessed after cure, which allows the reuse of parts through simple thermoforming (heating and re-shaping). A vitrimer composite wind blade could be reformed into a shape suited to a new application, such as a component for a wind turbine nacelle.

Recycling

Chemical recycling can separate the vitrimer matrix and the reinforcing fibre. The recovered materials could be used to manufacture new composites parts for wind energy, and other, applications.