The Montpellier company My Wind Parts supplies wind turbine spare parts to professionals who work on these machines, for example blades, nacelles or motors. Last September, it launched another activity: it decided not to use only new parts, but to recover some from wind turbines that are decommissioned, as explained by Sébastien Duchesne, founder of the company My WindParts.
With this new activity, you get your supplies from old wind turbines. Until now, we threw away wind turbines that no longer worked?
This is not exactly what is happening… In fact, today there is a new market emerging, which consists of replacing old wind turbines with new, more powerful ones. So, our core business in this new activity is to recover these machines and give them a second life.
Do you collect the entire wind turbine?
Yes, completely. We go to the field. We have partners who have the skills to dismantle the machines and then all these components are sent to our logistics center. Then, the components are stored for, behind, to be reconditioned and resold to future buyers.
Today, what do we do with these wind turbines that we replace?
Once again, this is a market that is new in France… But, in the few parks that have already been dismantled, the machines have been recycled, that is to say, the components have been directly transformed steel or copper. But we haven’t given a second life to these pieces and that’s really what we fight on a daily basis…
For us, it’s a shame. In any case, me, it really hurts my heart: we send these machines to a traditional recycling channel when we could reuse them.
Wind turbines are replaced after how long, on average?
From 15 to 20 years old.
Is 15 years the end of the career of wind turbines?
It’s not the end of your career. It is quite simply a contract which is signed between the owner of the machine and EDF. After 15 years, the contract no longer exists. So the electricity you produce is no longer necessarily bought back by EDF: it is on a free market. So it’s up to you to sell your energy. Not to mention that, very often, this market is much less interesting…
Interview by Clara Guichon
Photo credit: My Wind Parts collects all spare parts from wind turbines (illustration image). Maxppp for FBH – Manuel Blondeau
Listen to the interview with Sébastien Duchesne, founder of My Wind Parts
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