Coalition for Wind Industry Circularity (CWIC) Introduction
We are community
A combination of core NMIS capability, specialist technology centres and an active capability network of partners in the manufacturing community.
We are supporting 5 key manufacturing opportunities with common cross-cutting requirements
Playing our part in a leading UK manufacturing innovation & network
Through-life extension to reduce the levelised cost of energy
Advanced offshore substructure & mooring system manufacturing
Technology Skills Supply Chain
Enabling wind sector raw material supply & circularity
Next generation high performance wind turbines
How we are helping the wind industry today
Coalition for Wind Industry Circularity Demonstrating and delivering the value of a new sustainable, circular supply chain for the onshore and offshore wind industry in the UK.
The Driver
End-of-life of components
▸ Main pathways
▸ Harvest the part for reuse, or
▸ Process for scrap
▸ For parts unable to enter a recirculation process, participants were unsure of what the spent good pathway entails, whether that be separation, scrap, recycle or landfill.
▸ Life cycle cost modelling for an asset’s full life cycle is not currently considered.
Net Zero
• 77% of those asked stated that Net Zero (NZ) legislation had influenced their organisation
• 23% considered the sector relatively environmentally friendly and therefore less influenced by NZ requirements
• Within those influenced, there were several changes being made within their organisations:
• Introducing sustainability goals and targets (science-based or aligned with SDGs), some ahead of the government dates.
• Altering business models – guiding business direction (i.e. closing down less sustainable areas of the business)
• Introducing governance groups and/or sustainability departments
• Financial investment and roadmaps
• Changing day-to-day practices
Factors which influence the decision to consider a component at EoL
Drivers for organisations to achieve emissions targets
The Ambition
▸Establish world leading consortium/location for alternative wind turbine component life extension and end of life strategies;
▸To transition the wind industry from linear to circular through addressing supply chain procurement practices and to remove the barriers to the up taking of new sustainable practices.
▸Collaborative partnership development leading to the creation of consortia to achieve the investment and deployment of circular economy technology.
▸Develop high integrity parts remanufacture solutions that enhance turbine operational performance and reduce mean time between failure, to mutually push the boundaries of assetmanagement to accelerate the achievement of Net-Zero practices.
▸Working with government, apply the triple helix philosophy to influence investment policy to develop an eco-system of evolving through life engineering service practices (cradle to gate).
▸Design and develop people and skills, including development of remanufacture higher educational courses that combine academic and industry applied learning opportunities.
The transition to parts reuse
CWIC has been founded by SSE Renewables, Renewable Parts and the University of Strathclyde to accelerate the development and deployment of circular economy solutions, industrywide.
It has 3 founding principles:
1. Commitment to quarantine and grant access to used materials.
2. Sharing of operational / parts usage data.
3. Willingness to pilot refurbishment solutions within their operations.
The coalition now has over 50 members and formed a steering group and five strategy workstreams.
Our Approach
Circular
Economy Principles
To accelerate the adoption of circular economy principles & business models
Industry Steering Board
Value Chain
Developing new value for the supply chain across wind
Outreach & engagement
Supporting the manufacturing community through leadership, education, training & skills
Technology
Infrastructure Policy
Supporting the manufacturing community to engage with & prepare to innovate
Looking at the policy barriers, drivers and ways to unlock quicker growth for circularity
Join the CWIC movement to unlocking the
potential impacts
Scotland Onshore Wind Sector Deal Support
With the help of Scottish Renewables, we have secured commitment from Scottish Government’s Onshore Wind Sector Deal, which will provide the following:
Sector Led Support:
We will collaborate with the Coalition for Wind Industry Circularity (CWIC) to facilitate publishing its full programme of commitments by Q1 2024, and to support efforts towards:
• Innovative circular supply chain development
• Progressing Scottish/UK supply chain options for reused, refurbished and remanufactured component parts
• Establishing common standards for reporting on individual company approaches.
• We will, supported by Government and relevant agencies, deliver at least one specialist blade treatment facility in Scotland by 2030”
Government Led Support:
• We will work with the Sector, and our UK counterparts as required, to explore the role a regulatory stimulus could play in driving behavioural change in the circularity of materials, including blades and the use of refurbished or remanufactured components, publishing a strategy paper by October 2024. This action will take account of the CWIC programme of commitments to be published in Q1 2024.
• From Q3 2023 our direct partner agencies, including SEPA, Zero Waste Scotland and EAs, will aim to participate in the CWIC initiative and develop industry collaboration in support of delivering CWIC’s ambitions.
CWIC actions & asks for partners
CWIC actions
First 12 weeks
CWIC asks for partners
1. Build on current momentum for CWIC and engage with potential partners. Submit a formal expression of interest for joining CWIC by emailing circularwind@strath.ac.uk.
Next 12 months (March 2024)
2. Establish CWIC as a functioning industry group, with agreed structure and objectives for Steering Committee and working groups.
3. Publish the full CWIC green print for ambition and action.
4. Set targets to enable monitoring of progress against CWIC’s goals.
Provide resource for membership on Steering Committee and/or working groups, enabling CWIC to clearly set out its action plan and measurable goals.
CWIC actions & asks for partners
CWIC actions
Next 3 years (March 2026)
5. Secure funding and support for innovative circular supply chain development.
6. Demonstrate quantifiable progress through the development of UK supply chain options for reused, refurbished and remanufactured component parts.
7. Develop common standards for reporting on individual company approaches.
CWIC asks for partners
Active contribution and commitment to CWIC by supporting funding applications, promoting open collaboration, ongoing participation in the Steering Committee and/or working groups, and implementing CWIC actions.
2030
8. Align partners across CWIC on standardised approaches to evolve through-life and end oflife solutions at component and turbine level.
9. Prove the impact of CWIC in terms of contribution to the UK economy, reduction in raw material use and waste to scrap reduction, and carbon emission savings.
10. Continue to broaden and extend the impact of CWIC, agreeing the next decade of action.
Continuous knowledge and experience sharing, with commitment to reused, refurbished and remanufactured components becoming the default option for replacement parts.
Greenprint Development – Q1 2024 & Beyond
▸ As set out in the Onshore Wind Sector Deal, CWIC committed to delivering a revised and updated “Greenprint”, which will detail our ambition across each workstream, planned milestones and areas of opportunity along with our proposed operating structure.
▸ Not only will the Greenprint set out a delivery plan, but it will also set the vision for the sector and help wider organisations realise the potential for them to engage and join.
▸ In parallel to Greenprint creation, we are exploring several areas for potential funded demonstrator projects across the steering committee partners, intending to launch 2-3 projects early in the year.
▸ The Greenprint will detail some of the perceived barriers to overcome, and our collective proposal to achieve progress, including poor access to data, lack of trust and transparency, access to OEMs and more.
Steering Committee Development
▸ At present the committee is made up of NMIS, SSE Renewables, ScottishPower, Scottish Renewables, Natural Power Orsted, Renewable Parts and the University of Strathclyde (UoS). There are additional spaces available for organisations that wish to lead CWIC, or act in an advisory capacity (similar to The Crown Estate).
▸ NMIS & UoS are currently drafting a terms of reference for the committee which will propose how the committee will run, elect a chair and establish voting rights.
▸ We are also working on an underpinning logic model aligned to our core ambition and workstreams, which will be used to drive funding proposals, drive policy influence and demonstrate a clear line from activity to impact.
▸ Lastly, across Q1 2024 a membership proposal will be created by the steering committee, which will explore how to provide seed funding for CWIC activities, as well as a long-term plan towards becoming a self-sustaining entity over the coming years.
The Coalition for Wind Industry Circularity
Industry Steering Board
Coalition Members
k
circularwind@strath.ac.u