Prospective material flow analysis of the end-of-life decommissioning: Case study of a North Sea offshore wind farm
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
Authors
Early offshore wind farms approach their decommissioning phase, yet a lack of precedents, potential legal bottlenecks, inadequate treatments and a lack of applicable circularity indicators, leave the sector unprepared, encompassing a risk of valuable materials loss. This paper presents a first-of-its-kind circularity analysis of the prospective decommissioning scenario of a North Sea wind farm, introducing and applying new circularity indicators. From the site-specific primary data, a bill of materials and material flow analysis was established, differentiating between secondary applications and end-of-life destinations. The main share (80 %) of the installed mass originated from scour protection, acting as hotspot to the 84 % of materials remaining in situ. The collected fraction recycling rate approaches 90 %. However, the substantial discrepancies between components and materials implicate a need for component or material-specific targets to avoid valuable material loss. Introducing such collection or recycling targets could encourage more circular decommissioning practices along the value chain.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 107283 |
| Journal | Resources, Conservation and Recycling |
| Volume | 200 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| ISSN | 0921-3449 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 01.01.2024 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023
- Circular economy, End-of-life, Material flow analysis, Offshore wind energy, Recycling indicators, Waste management
Research areas
- Waste Management and Disposal
- Economics and Econometrics
ASJC Scopus Subject Areas
- SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth
- SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
