Wind Power

DOE competition aims to advance wind turbine materials recycling

DOE competition aims to advance wind turbine materials recycling
(GE Verona's 6 MW turbine at a site in New York. Credit: GE Verona)

With wind power predicted to contiunue to grow in the United States, a key question still remains: How can the nation holistically consider the life cycle of a wind turbine—from deployment to decommissioning—to create a sustainable wind energy economy?   

To help answer this question, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Wind Energy Technologies Office launched the Wind Turbine Materials Recycling Prize, a $5.1 million competition that is administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Part of DOE’s American-Made Challenges program, the prize aims to help the country develop a cost-effective and sustainable recycling industry for two high-impact categories of wind turbine materials: fiber-reinforced composites and rare earth elements.  

About 85%–90% of the mass of a wind turbine is made of materials that can already be commercially recycled. The bulk of the unrecycled materials is composed of fiber-reinforced composites (carbon fiber and fiberglass). These materials can be found in various forms in wind turbines, including the blades and the cover for the hub that connects the blades to the wind turbine. The wind energy manufacturing industry also depends on critical minerals, such as rare earth elements (including neodymium and dysprosium), which do not currently have domestic commercial-scale recycling options. 

The Wind Turbine Materials Recycling Prize aims to expand the nation’s ongoing efforts to advance wind turbine materials recycling, such as NREL’s thermoplastic resin research for wind turbine blades. 

The prize also seeks to promote collaboration among wind energy entrepreneurs, inventors, researchers, and experts from DOE’s national laboratories, such as NREL, to accelerate the development and commercialization of wind turbine materials recycling technologies. 

Those interested in the challenge can learn more from the American-Made Challenges Wind Turbine Materials Recycling Prize page.

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