Enlarge image
Halftime: The Alpha Ventus wind farm has been in Borkum since 2010
Photo: Thomas Imo / photothek / IMAGO
The dismantling of wind turbines in the German North Sea and Baltic Sea will present the industry with major challenges in ten years at the latest.
As part of a project led by Bremen University of Applied Sciences, scientists have therefore created a handbook that evaluates various processes in terms of costs, environmental compatibility and occupational safety.
"Every wind farm is different, which is why there cannot be one optimal solution for dismantling," says project manager Silke Eckardt.
In 2010, Alpha Ventus, the first German offshore wind farm north of Borkum, was connected to the grid.
In the meantime, 1,500 wind turbines are being operated in the German North and Baltic Seas.
Due to the difficult weather conditions at sea, the lifespan of offshore wind farms is limited to 20 to 25 years.
"As long as the systems are only approved," says Eckardt.
By then, at the latest, they will have to be partially or completely dismantled and disposed of - but possibly earlier in order to install more modern systems with more power at the same location.
recycle materials
So far, however, there has been little experience with dismantling.
In Germany, no offshore wind farm has been dismantled, worldwide there are only a handful.
"And they are not comparable to our systems in the North and Baltic Seas," said Eckardt.
In the three-and-a-half-year SeeOff project, which was funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics with 1.1 million euros, methods were developed to calculate different dismantling scenarios.
It has been shown that up to 98 percent of the materials used in offshore wind farms can be recycled.
The wind farm examined showed that it would be most sustainable if the scour protection made of stones and the cables remained in the sea.
The approximately 300-page manual can be viewed and downloaded by anyone interested from April on the project's website.
ak/dpa
