BladeBridge: Meet the Cork company reimagining old wind turbines

Where do old wind turbines go to die? Until now there have been very few solutions for the hard-to-recycle, bulky turbine blades. 

Enter Bladebridge, producer of low carbon pedestrian bridges and outdoor furniture from wind turbine blades. These are now appearing right across Ireland, marking a further shift towards sustainability for the wind industry and public infrastructure. 

“Bridges made from decommissioned wind turbine blades contain 20-50 per cent less carbon than conventional bridges and our solution also offers the best end-of-life option for blade waste,” said Dr Angie Nagle, BladeBridge chief executive. “This is of major interest to wind turbine owners as right now their only disposal options are incineration or landfill.”

A few years ago BladeBridge used two LM13 blades, to replace steel girders for the superstructure to build a waybridge in Midleton, Cork.  “The pedestrian bridge emerged as one of the top repurposing ideas for wind turbine blades at a very early stage and is very timely in an Irish context where an additional 1,000 pedestrian bridges are expected to be built in the next few years,  to support  the country’s expanding cycling network ,” said Dr Nagle.

These smart, repurposed bridges and outdoor furniture also offer green procurement options for public bodies, and provide a second life for blades post windfarm.

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‘Cork start-up turning redundant wind turbine blades into bridges and outdoor furniture’ - Irish Times

Image Credit
Sourced from BladeBridge