DIN specification for dismantling wind turbines: In RDRWind e.V., VSB Group plays leading role in developing first industry standard
Press / Dresden/Hanover / 17.07.2020
Dismantling and recycling now carried out according to a standardised process: VSB Group contributes vast experience in project development and the dismantling of wind turbines to the work of the RDRWind e.V. association. DIN SPEC 4866 provides operators, demolition and recycling companies, municipalities and authorities with recommendations for an orderly dismantling process as well as for safety, monitoring and documentation.
Beginning in 2021, the wind industry faces a wave of wind turbines that will need to be dismantled, because they will no longer qualify for EEG subsidies after 20 years of operation. According to recent estimates from the German Wind Energy Association (BWE), this will affect some 6,000 turbines with a total of 4,500 MW in 2021 alone. It will be necessary to dismantle existing turbines if they are not replaced by repowering or cannot be operated economically due to high operating costs.
Up to now, wind energy players – such as operators, project developers and energy suppliers – have had no binding framework when it comes to the demolition, removal, recycling and disposal of wind turbines. DIN SPEC 4866, which has been drawn up under the leadership of the VSB Group, now sets an industry standard for the first time and puts the work of the companies on a secure foundation.
“For VSB and all the other partners, it is important to show the public as well as local and government authorities that the industry works professionally. With this DIN specification, we are documenting in black and white how the dismantling process can be carried out in a uniform, safe and environmentally aware manner,” said Andrea Aschemeyer, site manager at VSB Neue Energien Deutschland GmbH and spokeswoman for RDRWind e.V.’s advisory board for standards, norms and quality seals.
DIN SPEC 4866 is available free of charge in German and English from Beuth Verlag. Further information on the DIN standard and the dismantling of wind turbines can be found at www.rdrwind.de and www.din.de/en.
Andrea Aschemeyer, site manager at VSB Neue Energien Deutschland GmbH and spokeswoman for RDRWind e.V.’s advisory board for standards, norms and quality seals.