In total, 139 wind turbines will be dismantled – 417 blades – which represents more than 800 tons.
Iberdrola Spain has awarded EnergyLoop the contract to recycle the blades and manage the waste components of the Isabela and Molar de Molinar wind farms in Albacete, the company’s first to be repowered in Spain. In total, 139 wind turbines will be dismantled, which represents 417 blades and more than 800 tons.
EnergyLoop, a company created in 2022 by Iberdrola Ventures Perseo and FCC Ámbito (a subsidiary of FCC Servicios Medio Ambiente specialising in comprehensive waste management), through its Venture Builder programme to launch new innovative and sustainable businesses, was born with the aim of building a pioneering facility for industrial-scale blade recycling, and leading the recycling of wind turbine blades in Spain and Portugal.
The EnergyLoop blade recycling plant, located in the municipality of Cortes (Navarra), has recently completed the civil works on its facilities and is expected to begin operating in early 2025. In the meantime, it already has all the necessary facilities and permits to carry out the reception and storage of the blades.
Iberdrola Spain is in the process of repowering two of its wind farms, La Isabela and Molar de Molinar (Albacete). The wind turbines will be replaced by more powerful and efficient models, in a process known as repowering.
The machines used in the repowering will have a unit power that is up to six times that of the first wind turbines installed in Spain more than two decades ago, reducing the number of wind turbines installed by 117 units. In addition, the new wind turbines will allow the energy production of the facilities to be increased by an average of 30%. Both wind farms were awarded grants within the first call for aid from the Circular Repowering programme, granted by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge through the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE), financed through the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism.
One of the most important factors during the dismantling process is the management of waste from the replaced wind turbines, especially the blades. The Iberdrola Group, of which Iberdrola España is a part, has already set itself the goal of recycling 50% of the blades of wind turbines and solar panels dismantled by 2025 and 100% by 2030, within the framework of its commitment to the efficient use of resources and within its Circular Economy Plan, which implies a cultural change in the way of understanding the production and consumption system to address the lack of resources, environmental impact, value creation and employment.
In this regard, Iberdrola España has launched a competitive tender process for recycling the blades and management of other materials, which has been awarded to EnergyLoop, ensuring the traceability of waste management and allowing for maximum valorisation of these materials through their conditioning and use in subsequent industrial processes. EnergyLoop has the operational capacity necessary to manage the volume of waste generated within the desired timeframes.
