With greater than 142 gigawatts of wind energy put in throughout the USA as of June 2023, wind power manufacturing is accelerating to assist meet the nation’s formidable clear power objectives. The potential development of the wind power business raises a essential query: How can the nation holistically contemplate the life cycle of a wind turbine—from deployment to decommissioning—to create a sustainable wind power economic system?

To assist reply this query, the U.S. Division of Power’s (DOE’s) Wind Power Applied sciences Workplace launched the Wind Turbine Supplies Recycling Prize, a $5.1 million competitors that’s administered by the Nationwide Renewable Power Laboratory (NREL). A part of DOE’s American-Made Challenges program, the prize goals to assist the nation develop a cheap and sustainable recycling business for 2 high-impact classes of wind turbine supplies: fiber-reinforced composites and uncommon earth parts.

About 85%–90% of the mass of a wind turbine is manufactured from supplies that may already be commercially recycled. The majority of the unrecycled supplies consists of fiber-reinforced composites (carbon fiber and fiberglass). These supplies will be present in numerous types in wind generators, together with the blades and the duvet for the hub that connects the blades to the wind turbine. The wind power manufacturing business additionally is dependent upon essential minerals, comparable to uncommon earth parts (together with neodymium and dysprosium), which don’t presently have home commercial-scale recycling choices.

Prize Objectives

The Wind Turbine Supplies Recycling Prize goals to increase the nation’s ongoing efforts to advance wind turbine supplies recycling, comparable to NREL’s thermoplastic resin analysis for wind turbine blades.

The prize additionally seeks to advertise collaboration amongst wind power entrepreneurs, inventors, researchers, and consultants from DOE’s nationwide laboratories, comparable to NREL, to speed up the event and commercialization of wind turbine supplies recycling applied sciences.

Learn DOE’s prize launch announcement to study extra in regards to the objectives of the Wind Turbine Supplies Recycling Prize.

Excited about Collaborating?

Go to the American-Made Challenges Wind Turbine Supplies Recycling Prize web page to study extra in regards to the timeline and construction of the prize, and register for the informational webinar hosted by NREL on Aug. 3, 2023, at 1 p.m. ET.

Study extra about NREL’s superior manufacturing and supplies wind power analysis. And make sure you subscribe to NREL’s wind power e-newsletter for extra information like this.

Article courtesy of Nationwide Renewable Power Laboratory (NREL).

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