The sprawling Panther Creek III wind farm in West Texas is undergoing a repowering process in which existing wind turbine blades are being replaced, with the old blades being removed and prepared for repurposing as part of a partnership between Veolia North America and GE Renewable Power.
The farm, which is operated by RWE Renewables, features 133 wind turbines which generate power for GE. By replacing the blades with longer versions and upgrading the turbine gear boxes, the farm can increase the power generated by the turbines from 199.5 megawatts to 215 megawatts.
The blades that are removed during the repowering will be processed and recycled, as a part of GE Renewable Energy’s blade recycling agreement with Veolia North America. Veolia will process the blades for use as a raw material for cement, using a cement kiln co-processing technology. Nearly 90% of the blade material, by weight, will be reused as a repurposed engineered material for cement production, helping to reduce cement manufacturing greenhouse gas emissions by 27 percent.
Check out the story about Veolia's role in the process in Renewable Energy World.