RWE has installed the world’s first offshore wind turbine featuring a carbon dioxide (CO2) reduced steel tower and recyclable rotor blades. This marks a major milestone in the construction of the 1.1 GW Thor offshore wind farm off Denmark’s west coast and represents a pioneering step towards further improving the sustainability performance of offshore wind. In total, 72 wind turbines, each with a capacity of up to 15 MW, will be installed by the end of 2026. Half of them will be equipped with steel towers produced with a lower carbon footprint, while 40 turbines will feature a total of 120 recyclable rotor blades.
Sven Utermöhlen, CEO RWE Offshore Wind, said: “Offshore wind already has one of the lowest lifecycle carbon footprints of power generation technologies. At RWE, our ambition is to go even further. By using towers produced with greener steel and recyclable rotor blades, we are further reducing the carbon footprint and taking a significant step towards fully circular offshore wind.”
Marc Becker, Senior Vice President of Siemens Gamesa Offshore, added: “This world-first is about moving circularity from promise to practice. RecyclableBlade is designed to enable composite materials to be recovered and recycled, addressing a growing end of life challenge. Together with GreenerTower, which lowers the carbon footprint of steel and reduces overall turbine emissions by around 20%, we are proving that sustainability can be delivered at scale in offshore wind, with safety, quality, and certainty.”
RWE is the first company worldwide to use Siemens Gamesa’s GreenerTower. The tower plates are made from steel that produces at least 63% lower CO2 emissions than conventional steel. The certified production process limits emissions by using renewable-powered furnaces and scrap steel, for example. In addition, Thor will feature Siemens Gamesa’s recyclable rotor blades. Thanks to an innovative resin, the composite materials in these blades can be separated and reused, for instance in new casting applications in the automotive or consumer goods industries. RWE is already using recyclable rotor blades at its offshore wind farms Kaskasi in Germany and Sofia in the UK.
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