Siemens Gamesa transforms Denmark’s wind turbine blades into bike sheds

Recycling blades is an industry-wide challenge that requires innovative solutions

It is a well-known fact that Denmark is committed to being a green and sustainable country. Over the past several years, it has taken numerous actions, proving its dedication to achieving these goals. Taking a case in point, the Nordic country now produces nearly half of its electricity using wind turbines. In addition to this, it has taken various steps to promote cycling and make it the number one mode of transportation.

Although these actions must certainly be praised, they also have their disadvantages. While using wind – a renewable energy source – has numerous benefits, the lifespan of wind turbines is approximately 20-25 years. What is more, they are extremely difficult to recycle and thus, often end up in landfills.

Understanding the gravity of this problem, multiple companies have set their sights on finding innovative ways to recycle blades.

Using blades as bike sheds

Earlier this year, Siemens Gamesa unveiled a ground-breaking solution to the aforementioned problem; that is, transforming blades into bike sheds. The company announced its idea on Facebook, writing: “Granted, making blades into bike sheds is a small-scale solution, but we believe that every blade that is reused is a valid recycling opportunity.”

Taking this further, Siemens Gamesa shared that the bike shed is in line with the DecomBlades consortium and the EU-funded research projects FiberEUse and DigiPrime that seek to promote circular economies. Moreover, the company disclosed that all three are part of its strategy to solve the industry-wide challenge of blade recycling.

The DecomBlades consortium consists of 10 partners who have each received funding from Innovation Fund Denmark for a three-year project to find sustainable ways of recycling wind turbines. These solutions must be rooted in Denmark and also be applicable all over the world.

The blade bike shed is the perfect example of such a solution as countries worldwide can now follow Denmark’s example to transform their wind turbines into parking sheds.