RWE has started the repowering of its Muel wind farm, located in the Aragon region near Zaragoza. Muel is one of the first onshore projects operating in this region undergoing such an extensive modernisation programme. In total, 27 wind turbines with a combined capacity of 16.2 megawatts (MW) will be dismantled and replaced by three modern 6.6 MW turbines with a total capacity of 19.8 MW. Spanish renewables expert GES (Global Energy Services) was awarded the construction contract and has already started initial works. Commissioning of the new Muel wind farm is planned for the end of 2025. A Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for the asset has been secured with an undisclosed offtaker.
Katja Wünschel, CEO RWE Renewables Europe & Australia: “It is time to say farewell to the 27 turbines of our old Muel wind farm. They have reliably generated green electricity for 27 years, producing a total of 800 gigawatt hours. But this is not the end of the road for many of the components. As circularity and zero waste are key objectives at RWE some of the components will be refurbished and reused in our wind fleet, others recovered and even the blades will be recycled and get a new purpose. Soon we will be welcoming the new three state-of-the-art turbines, which will replace the old ones and increase installed capacity. A perfect example of the cost-effective expansion of wind energy in Spain.”
Innovative solutions for circularity and zero waste
At the end of March the old turbines were disconnected from the grid after 27 years of reliable service. Circularity start-up RenerCycle, which develops solutions for achieving zero waste in the end-of-life process of wind farms, will dismantle the old wind farm and take care for all components: 1,350 old components will be refurbished for later use in other RWE wind farms, 1,825 metric tons of ferrous material will be recovered and 95% of the materials will be recycled. The 81 blades for instance will be recycled at the Waste2Fiber® wind blade recycling plant that ACCIONA, ACCIONA Energía and RenerCycle are currently developing in Lumbier. The facility will be the first in Spain to utilise a ground-breaking proprietary thermal treatment technology developed by ACCIONA for the recycling of composite materials of blades. This advanced recycling technology will enable the reintegration of fibres into new industrial applications.
Funding
The Muel repowering project receives funding from the Recovery and Resilience Facility, established by Regulation (EU) 2021/241 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 February 2021, through the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan - financed by the European Union - NextGenerationE.
Huge potential for repowering in the Spanish onshore wind market
A total of around 20 gigawatts (GW) of onshore wind capacity with an operating life of more than 20 years is expected to be installed in Spain by 2030. Of the 20 GW, around 10 GW will reach 25 years of operation, representing a huge potential for repowering. Repowering therefore represents an important opportunity for Spain to increase renewable energy production while reducing the environmental impact of projects and improving integration into the electricity system through modern wind turbines with enhanced performance.
RWE Renewables Iberia
RWE Renewables Iberia is a key driver of the Spanish energy transition, developing green projects across the country. The company operates 18 onshore wind farms with a total capacity of around 500 MW and seven large-scale solar power plants with a total capacity of around 300 MWac on the Iberian Peninsula.
Pictures of the old Muel wind farm for media use (credit: RWE) are available at the RWE Media Centre.
