Offshore staff
ZAMUDIO, Spain — Operations have started at the world’s first offshore wind turbine equipped with Siemens Gamesa's RecyclableBlades technology.
The first commercial installation is at RWE's Kaskasi offshore wind power project in Germany.
Marc Becker, CEO of the Siemens Gamesa Offshore Business Unit, said the company had brought the new technology to market in 10 months, following the launch last September to installation at Kaskasi in July.
The company is targeting fully recyclable turbines by 2040.
Wind turbine blades are made from a combination of materials embedded in resin to form a strong, stiff structure. RecyclableBlade is said to enable a full reclaim of the blade's components at the end of the product's lifespan.
Separating the resin, fiberglass and wood is achieved through use of a mild acid solution. The materials can later be recycled for new purposes.
The technology was developed in Aalborg, Denmark. The blades were manufactured in Hull, eastern England, and the nacelles were produced in and installed from Cuxhaven, northern Germany.
Numerous turbines at Kaskasi will be equipped with the handcrafted RecyclableBlades, each with a length of 81 m. The project is 35 km north of the island of Heligoland in the German North Sea.
The wind farm will comprise 38 SG 8.0-167 DD wind turbines, generating 342 MW of power.
Siemens Gamesa added that its RecyclableBlade technology is also available for the 108-m long B108 blades used on the SG 14-222 DD offshore wind turbine and the 115-m long B115 blades SG 14-222 DD turbines.
08.01.2022
