11/02/25

The North Sea Canal area: the hub for wind farm decommissioning? AYOP thinks so.

In the past years, many wind turbines have been built in the North Sea. The lifespan of some of these offshore wind farms is coming to an end. This means that the wind turbines must be decommissioned. The North Sea Canal area is pre-eminently the region to get this done. And not only offshore wind farms can be processed in the North Sea Canal area. The region is also ready for decommissioning onshore and nearshore wind farms. Within the region and within the AYOP network, we have the knowledge, the right facilities and experience.

 

Why the North Sea Canal area?

Besides the fact that there are companies in the region that can take care of the completion, there is space and logistics to handle the assets. The port of Amsterdam is a bulk port where you can offload many large projects. Through the locks of IJmuiden, all the material can be transported here. But materials from onshore and nearshore wind farms can also be transported by water to the Amsterdam port. Transporting by water means fewer transport movements than by land, less inconvenience and lower costs.

For example, the construction of Windplanblauw on the IJsselmeer was facilitated by TMA Logistics at the Amsterdam port. In the Amerikahaven, 227 tower sections and 111 blades for the park were stored and transshipped. For decommissioning wind farms, TMA can fulfill a similar role. They recently demonstrated this during the decommissioning of Vattenfall’s Eemmeerdijk wind farm. The materials were then transported to and processed by metal recycler EMR.

 

Text continues below photo.

source: TMA Logistics

 

Status of decommissioning offshore wind farms

Within a few years, Princess Amalia Wind Farm and Offshore Wind Farm Egmond aan Zee (OWEZ) should be decommissioned. However, there is little to no experience worldwide with decommissioning offshore wind farms. In fact, this runs on the same principle of ‘reverse installation’ used for onshore wind farms. But more research and innovation is needed for a concrete plan of action. AYOP is holding discussions on this with, among others, ECHT and TKI Offshore Energy.

 

Offshore decommissioning: options and considerations

Decommissioning of offshore wind turbines is currently subject to a full cleanup requirement. All material ever added above and below the seabed, including cable infrastructure, must be completely removed and, where possible, recycled or reused. But is this really the best option? The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and Rijkswaterstaat are now discussing this with developers and other stakeholders. Below we list a number of interests and considerations:

  • Impact on nature: When the turbines are completely removed, new nature and ecosystems that may have developed on and around the wind farms are lost. With partial decommissioning, the foundation is retained or the mast is sawed off under the water. This provides reservation of new nature and ecosystems. This represents an important choice between reusing valuable resources from the turbine or for biodiversity.
  • Potential changes plot decision: Another consideration is potentially changing destinations for the space in the North Sea in the future. Is a destination changing to, for example, sand extraction or fishing? Then it is necessary for all the material to be removed.
  • Alternative destination cable infrastructure: If the space destination remains “wind energy area”, adjustments are also needed. Old infrastructure is often not suitable for the new generation of turbines. An alternative may be to use the existing infrastructure for other energy generators, such as wave power, which AYOP member Symphony Wave Power is focusing on.

 

Source: Natuur & Milieu

 

Wind turbine processing options

When wind farms are partially or completely removed, a lot of material comes back on land. There are several options for processing this. Some examples:

  • Option 1: Recycling – This is the most obvious option. All parts of the wind turbine go to various processors. They are processed into raw materials that can be put back into new value chains. Previously mentioned companies in the NZKG have already put this option into operation.
  • Option 2: Repurpose – Parts of wind turbines, such as the rotor blades, can be given a new purpose. For example, several design studios collaborated with Vattenfall to convert the nacelle into a tiny house as part of Dutch Design Week. One of these studios, Blade-Made, also makes street furniture and playground equipment from old blades. This way, the parts get a new life.
  • Option 3: Refurbish – (Parts of) wind turbines can be given a second life abroad. Parties like Iver and Business in Wind are working on this. We buy up wind turbines, upgrade them to current standards and give them a second life this way.
  • Option 4: Lifetime extension – This option is still in its infancy. The principle is as follows. When an offshore wind farm is past its lifespan, the nacelle and blades are brought to land. The monopile, mast and infrastructure often have a longer lifespan, so can remain. The blades are ideally refurbished (see option 3), but if they are no longer adequate they are given a new use (option 2) or recycled (option 1). The refurbished or new blades are reassembled on the existing mast. This approach ultimately allows a turbine to stay in place longer and offers potential for the future.

Source: visualization “Recycling” from the study “Space for Circular Wind Turbines” by Generation.Energy, Province of South Holland and Province of North Holland. This study also contains more explanation on circular processing of wind turbines. See link below.

 

The role of AYOP

In the coming years, wind farm decommissioning will play an increasing role and new supply chains will emerge. You can’t maintain supply chains with just offshore wind farms – we also focus on onshore and nearshore. AYOP believes the region has what it takes to provide this. We are therefore busy lobbying in this area and regularly sit around the table with stakeholders. With the Decommission Blue initiative, AYOP members from various parts of the chain are jointly looking into the decommissioning issue. Richard Engelkes also participates on behalf of AYOP in the CIRCO Track Circular Opportunities for Offshore Wind Farms. We will keep our members informed of progress and look to the future with great confidence.

 

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Sources

In addition to the information that Richard obtained from conversations with stakeholders, we used a number of sources for this article (all in Dutch):