Prospective material flow analysis of the end-of-life decommissioning: Case study of a North Sea offshore wind farm
Demuytere, C.; Vanderveken, I.; Thomassen, G.; Godoy León, M.F.; De Luca Peña, L.V.; Blommaert, C.; Vermeir, J.; Dewulf, J. (2024). Prospective material flow analysis of the end-of-life decommissioning: Case study of a North Sea offshore wind farm. Resour. Conserv. Recycl. 200: 107283. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2023.107283
In: Resources, Conservation and Recycling. Elsevier: Amsterdam. ISSN 0921-3449; e-ISSN 1879-0658, meer
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| Trefwoorden |
Waste management
Marien/Kust |
| Author keywords |
Offshore wind energy; Material flow analysis; End-of-life; Recycling indicators; Circular economy |
| Auteurs | | Top |
- Demuytere, C., meer
- Vanderveken, I., meer
- Thomassen, G., meer
- Godoy León, M.F.
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- De Luca Peña, L.V., meer
- Blommaert, C., meer
- Vermeir, J.
- Dewulf, J., meer
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| Abstract |
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. |
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