RESLOEP - Responsible End-of-life Solutions for Logistics in Offshore Energy Projects
As Europe’s offshore wind farms (OWFs) approach the end of their service life, recycling challenges are emerging as critical bottlenecks for the circular economy. Ensuring that end-of-life components flow efficiently from offshore sites through ports into recycling processes is essential for a sustainable offshore wind sector. RESLOEP tackles this by applying techno-economic methods tailored to the fragmented end-of-life supply chain and developing coordination models that align the activities and incentives of OWF operators, ports, and recycling companies. This supports TKI Dinalog’s ambition to make logistics a key enabler of sustainable, circular supply chains.
RESLOEP will map offshore wind and recycling actors, analyze ports as logistical hubs, and identify risks of bottlenecks and stranded components. Coordination mechanisms such as bundled tenders, joint ventures, and public obligations will be designed and tested under scenarios including changes in waste legislation, recycling technologies, and material prices. These insights will inform a decision-support tool and policy recommendations to help stakeholders anticipate challenges and plan effective end-of-life strategies.
The project is innovative in its integration of technical, economic, and policy perspectives on OWF decommissioning and its focus on coordination across diverse supply chain actors. By linking offshore dismantling with onshore recycling operations, RESLOEP positions logistics as a driver of circularity in the energy transition. To ensure broad uptake, the project will engage stakeholders through a validation workshop, present results at leading scientific and industry conferences to validate findings against technical expertise. The decision-support tool and policy briefs will provide directly applicable solutions for operators, ports, and recyclers. For a 300 MW OWF, effective coordination could unlock approximately €16 million in net material value after treatment and recovery.
