Ørsted and wind turbine manufacturer Vestas announced a partnership to promote sustainable business models. Under the collaboration, Ørsted will procure wind turbine towers made from low-carbon steel and blades made from recycled materials from Vestas for offshore wind farms. In terms of solar energy recycling, the Danish energy company also announced a partnership with SOLARCYCLE to recycle and reuse all PV panels from the company’s photovoltaic power stations.
Ørsted and Vestas revealed that all offshore wind projects which they jointly developed will come with wind turbine towers made from low-carbon steel. They also committed to using blades made from recycled materials once relevant technologies reach commercial scale. The sustainable procurement commitment applies to all offshore projects jointly developed by the two, thereby creating long-term demand for Vestas’ innovative low-carbon technologies and circularity solutions.
The commitments include acquiring and installing at least 25% of low carbon steel towers. By using heavy steel plates produced from renewable energy sources, carbon emissions during the manufacturing process of turbine towers can be reduced by up to 70%. Additionally, there will be an expansion of the technology for recycling wind turbine blades, with the acquisition of blades made from recycled materials. Vestas and its partners in the CETEC initiative (Circular Economy for Thermosets Epoxy Composites) are pioneering new solutions to decompose existing and future epoxy resin blades and use the recycled resin to produce new blades.
Regarding PV panel recycling, Ingrid Reumert, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Stakeholder Relations at Ørsted, expressed the company’s commitment to creating a world that operates entirely on green energy in a sustainable manner. To achieve this goal, we must address the critical waste issue in the solar energy industry and mitigate the social and environmental impact exerted by the supply chain. Ørsted is the first company in the industry to pledge to reuse or recycle PV panels, aligning with its commitment to sustainable recycling of wind turbine blades.
Ørsted announced a new partnership with US-based PV panel recycling company SOLARCYCLE to fulfill the goal of panel reuse and recycling. This partnership aims to recycle PV panels from the energy company’s solar power stations in the United States that have reached the end of their lifespan. The United States is one of Ørsted’s primary solar energy markets.
(Photo credit: Ørsted)