March 18 (Renewable Now) – The ZEBRA consortium has produced the first prototype of its 100% recyclable wind turbine in a step toward orbit, General Electric (NYSE: GE) said on Thursday.
The world’s largest thermoplastic blade with a length of 62 meters (203 ft) was manufactured in the Ponferrada plant by LM Wind Power, part of GE Renewable Energy, in Spain. It is now employed for full-scale structural life testing at the LM Wind Power Test and Validation Center in Denmark. Upon completion of the tests, the recycling methods will be validated, a period in December 2022.
ZEBRA (Zero wastE Blade ReseArch), launched in September 2020 and led by the French research center IRT Jules Verne, groups Arkema, CANOE, Engie, LM Wind Power, Owens Corning and SUEZ.
The prototype uses Arkema’s thermoplastic resin and new high-performance glass fabrics by Owens Corning.
John Korsgaard, Senior Director, Engineering Excellence at LM Wind Power, comments that “the end-of-life thermoplastic composite blade material is of great value and can easily be used in other industries as a material compound, but also depolymerized in the Resin Reused in the production of new blades.
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