Wind Energy Days 2026: RDRWind Forum focuses on dismantling and recycling of wind turbines

The dismantling of wind turbines is becoming increasingly important within the wind energy industry. With the advancing age of existing turbines, the growing repowering market and increasing requirements for a sustainable circular economy, new challenges and business opportunities arise for operators, project developers and specialised service companies.

Against this background, RDRWind e.V., ( https://www.rdrwind.de/ ) the industry association for repowering, dismantling and recycling of wind turbines, is organising its own expert forum on Wednesday, 11 November 2026, from 14:00 to 17:25 as part of the 34th Wind Energy Days in Linstow.

Dismantling as an independent business area

One focus of the forum is on the increasing professionalization of wind energy dismantling. This is no longer exclusively about the technical dismantling of disused turbines. Rather, dismantling encompasses a complex value chain that ranges from early planning and economic evaluation to the reuse and material recycling of individual components. How dismantling can be organized as an independent project will be explained by Mirco Gilhaus from Alterric, among others. Other contributions are dedicated to the further development of industry standards and the requirements for the professional implementation of dismantling projects.

Dismantling costs, repowering and market development

The economic aspects are also the focus of the programme. Particularly in the case of older wind turbines, operators are increasingly faced with the question of what costs are associated with dismantling and how these can be included in long-term site planning. A lecture by Carlos Kuhlmann from the Lower Saxony/Bremen Renewable Energy Association will deal with the dismantling cost formula and the repowering potential. In addition, Silke Lüers from Deutsche WindGuard will shed light on the development of dismantling figures. These are an important indicator for future market development and the demand for specialised services.

In addition to economic and regulatory issues, the forum also addresses technological developments. Maike Schmidt from the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) deals with the use of artificial intelligence in the wind energy sector in her contribution.

With the blasting of wind turbines , a special technical dismantling process will also be discussed. Sven Stadler and Richard Lankes from Reisch Sprengtechnik will provide insights into practice. The programme illustrates how diverse the requirements for modern wind energy dismantling have become in the meantime. From technical implementation and cost calculation to digitalisation and circular economy.

Industry exchange along the entire value chain

With its expert forum, RDRWind e.V. creates a platform for exchange between turbine operators, project developers, dismantling companies, recycling companies and other players in the wind energy industry. In view of the large number of aging wind turbines and increasing repowering, the importance of this market segment is likely to grow further in the coming years. Reliable calculation bases, uniform standards and efficient procedures will play a central role in this.

wind-turbine.com is also participating in the technical programme

As part of the forum, Bernd Weidmann, Managing Director of wind-turbine.com GmbH, will give an insight into the practical use of digital dismantling cost calculations. His lecture "Knowing today what will be dismantled tomorrow - insights into approx. 2,000 dismantling computer applications" will take place from 3:40 to 4:00 p.m. and will deal with findings from the use of the platform's dismantling cost calculator. To the dismantling calculator: https://wind-turbine.com/tool/rueckbaukosten-ermitteln

Complete program:

short coffee break

short coffee break

Event information