Iberdrola, FCC Ámbito launches EnergyLOOP for wind turbine blade recycling

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Iberdrola (Bilbao, Spain), through its PERSEO Venture Builder program, and FCC Ámbito (Madrid), a subsidiary of FCC Servicios Medio Ambiente, have launched EnergyLOOP to lead the recycling of renewable installation components for wind turbines, said to be one of the biggest medium- and long-term challenges in the sector. This initiative will also contribute to the energy transition and boost the circular economy in Spain.

The initial objective will be the recovery of wind turbine blade components — mostly glass and carbon fibers, and resins — and their reuse in sectors such as energy, aerospace, automotive, textiles, chemicals and construction. It is estimated that by 2030, around 5,700 wind turbines will be dismantled per year in Europe, coming from the repowering of wind farms or from facilities reaching the end of their useful life.

To this end, the new company plans to set up Spain’s first blade recycling plant in southern Navarre, within close proximity to leading wind farms in the country and other regions with abundant wind farms. The project has the support of the government of Navarre and will reportedly be the first industrial-scale plant in Europe.

EnergyLOOP plans to invest around €10 million in the facility. The project will work on the different stages that enable the circularity of wind turbine blades, including on-site pre-treatment and conditioning, waste transport logistics, recycling technologies and the marketing of recycled products.

In this context, EnergyLOOP will contribute to the transformation of the wind energy sector into a true circular economy by investing in integrated blade recycling solutions. This initiative will also improve its competitiveness and sustainability through the research and implementation of new recycling technologies, which will make it possible to absorb the increasing amounts of waste and adopt increasingly efficient solutions.

The initiative undertaken by Iberdrola and FCC Ámbito has the support of Siemens Gamesa (Zamudio, Spain), which will play a key role in this project as it runs 53% of all the wind farms installed in Spain.