To achieve the goals of climate-neutrality by 2050, renewable energy sources installations will have explosive growth. Wind energy, in particular, will play a large role in supplying clean energy to the electrical grid. Nevertheless, this growth must be done in a sustainable manner and following the principles set out in the Circular Economy Action Plan and the Action Plan on Critical Raw Materials. Thus, clear and decisive actions will need to be taken now to assure that the future wind farms are sustainable and circular, while also dealing with current wind farms and the recycling of their components, once they reach the end of their lifetime. The nature of this challenge involves different kinds of activities. The first activity is on the development of large-scale industrial demonstration of composite material recycling technologies to increase the circularity of wind technology. This demonstration will focus on flexible approaches for composite recycling, and on the development of a knowledge hub involving other composite-heavy sectors, in order to share best practices and to identify common challenges. The project results are expected to contribute to the promotion of the ‘circularity by design’ approach in the wind energy sector, and to support the adoption of life cycle assessment tools, demonstrating reduced carbon footprint on the wind turbine value chain. The award value is EUR 40 000 000. Visit Funder for details.

Eligibility

To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the eligible countries;

• The Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions
• The Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs)  are linked to the Member States
• Eligible non-EU countries; countries associated with Horizon Europe and  low- and middle-income countries

The deadline for application is 26 April 2022.