Responsible resource management : optimizing the life cycle of wind turbines
The decommissioning and repowering of wind farms raise important questions about how to manage wind turbine materials at the end of their useful life.
To help develop sustainable solutions, Boralex is involved in several concrete initiatives aimed at supporting the exploration recycling or repurposing options for wind turbines and their components.
These circular economy actions are implemented through the "Responsible Resource Management" pillar of our CSR strategy.
In Quebec : innovating with the Circular Innovation Challenge
Boralex is actively involved alongside key wind energy players in the Wind Turbine Circular Innovation Challenge - an initiative led by Cycle Momentum and Recyc-Québec - aimed at developing a Quebec-based wind turbine recycling industry.
This initiative helps identify and deploy innovative technological solutions to ensure the responsible and sustainable management of materials from decommissioned wind farms.
An international call for projects has been launched to encourage eco-design, reuse, and recycling of wind turbine components such as blades, towers, and foundations. This approach aims to accelerate the transition toward a circular wind energy sector by integrating sustainable practices from the design phase through to decommissioning.
A concrete example: transforming wind turbines blades into fiber-reinforced concrete
Boralex is contributing its expertise and support to the pilot project led by HPSH (a company founded by researchers from the Université de Sherbrooke, specialized in concrete made with recycled wind turbine blades), where tests are being conducted to recycle turbine blades into fiber-reinforced concrete. These materials could eventually be reused in concrete production - a great example of the circular economy in action!
In Europe: repowering turbines, training and recycling solar panels
In 2024, the repowering of the Mont de Bézard II wind farm in France perfectly illustrates Boralex's commitment to circular economy practices in renewable energy. Of the six decommissioned turbines, two were fully reinstalled at a new wind farm in Italy, while components of three others were either recycled or sold for reuse.
The final turbine was donated to a vocational school in Nîmes (France), to help train future wind turbine maintenance technicians. The foundations were also excavated, and the concrete was recycled into aggregates before the land was returned to agricultural use.
Boralex also contributes to innovation in solar panel recycling by participating in the FORESI project (Fostering a Recycled European Silicon Supply), a consortium of 10 European partners aiming to demonstrate the supply of recycled silicon from end-of-life photovoltaic modules.
A circularity model for the future of sustainable energy
Through these initiatives, Boralex reaffirms its commitment to integrating circular economy principles at every stage of its projects' lifecycles - especially at the decommissioning stage. The future of wind turbine recycling is being shaped today, and Boralex intends to play an active role in this transition.