Panther Creek III wind farm upgrades 133 turbines for more power and reuses nearly 90% of old blade material in cement

A wind farm in West Texas has gained additional generating capacity while giving its old turbine blades a new industrial use. Panther Creek III, which began operating in 2009 with 133 turbines, underwent a repowering project with longer blades and upgraded gearboxes. The work raised the wind farm’s capacity to 215 MW and was designed to increase annual electricity production from the existing turbines. At the same time, the blades removed during the upgrade were processed for use in cement production. Nearly 90% of the blade material by weight was set to be reused as engineered material for cement manufacturing.Panther Creek III capacity rises to 215 MWAccording to an RWE official press release, the changes increased Panther Creek III’s installed capacity to 215 MW. Veolia North America, which is involved in processing the removed blades, said the increase was achieved by replacing the existing blades with longer versions and upgrading the turbine gearboxes. The project therefore increased the output potential of the existing 133-turbine site without adding another set of turbines to the wind farm.RWE said the refurbishment would increase annual production across all 133 wind turbine generators. The company also described the project as a way of capturing improvements in turbine efficiency while extending the facility’s lifetime. At the time of its April 2021 announcement, RWE expected erection and commissioning of the repowering work to be completed in the third quarter of 2021.Old turbine blades reused in cement productionThe repowering also created a disposal challenge: what to do with the blades removed from the 133 turbines. Under GE Renewable Energy’s blade recycling agreement with Veolia North America, the old blades were processed for use in cement production. RWE said Veolia would use a cement-kiln co-processing technology, allowing the blade material to serve as a raw material in cement manufacturing.Veolia said the process involved the removed blades rather than sending them to landfill. Nearly 90% of the blade material by weight was expected to be reused as engineered material for cement production. Veolia also said the process could help reduce greenhouse-gas emissions associated with cement manufacturing, making the blade-repurposing operation part of the wider effort to deal with composite wind-turbine materials at the end of their original use.Panther Creek III upgrades 133 turbinesThe Panther Creek III project brought together two aspects of wind-farm repowering: increasing the productivity of an existing installation and finding a use for components removed during the upgrade. RWE’s announcement said the longer blades and upgraded gearboxes would improve the performance of the 133 turbines, while the removed blades would enter Veolia’s cement-kiln processing system.The project followed RWE’s earlier repowering work at Panther Creek I and Panther Creek II, which together involved 172 wind turbines and were repowered in the third quarter of 2019. Panther Creek III therefore became the third RWE repowering project carried out with GE Renewable Energy at the three-phase West Texas wind complex. Its move to 215 MW showed how existing wind infrastructure could be upgraded for additional generating capacity while the removed blade material was redirected towards another industrial use.Catch the latest World News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.