Spin-off: repurposing a decommissioned blade

The Energia Renewables Ops team has found a new use for a decommissioned turbine blade, which was replaced on the Meenadreen Wind Farm back in 2020.

It’s going to be turned into a new site amenity in the form of a shelter and seating area on the Leghowney Loop - the popular trail which passes through the wind farm.

Sustainable solution for blades made to last

The European wind industry is committed to finding a sustainable solution for the use of decommissioned turbine blades to avoid sending them to landfill.

Steel turbine towers can easily be reused and recycled. However, up until recently, finding a sustainable solution for turbine blades, which are made from fibre reinforced polymer (FRP), has proved more difficult. These blade structures are engineered to withstand the elements and continue turning for many years.

Now, though, decommissioned blades are being repurposed to create functional street furniture and even pedestrian bridges.

Energia working with BladeBridge

Energia has commissioned BladeBridge to design and construct the blade spin-offs. The Cork-based company was inspired by the Re-Wind Research Network, a US academic project which developed repurposing ideas for turbine blades – including blade bridges.

BladeBridge works with wind farm operators who have redundant blades to repurpose and public bodies looking for low-carbon options for pedestrian bridges, bus shelters, public benches, etc.

The Meenadreen blade is the first time BladeBridge has worked on a wind farm amenity project, where the blade will return to its original home to continue its working life in a new form.

Meenadreen and the circular economy

Energia Group is aligned to the UN Sustainability Development Goals and sustainability is at the core of everything we do at Meenadreen Wind Farm.

This blade repurposing project, designed to enhance the site for walkers on the Leghowney Loop trail, will help promote the circular economy and raise public awareness of the possibilities and need to repurpose waste materials through sustainable resource management.

Design plans

The blade project consists of an eye-catching shelter, stylish picnic table structure with seating and stand-alone benches.

It’s an ideal stop-off for walkers on the trail through the wind farm - somewhere they can sit and admire the view, see the wind turbines spinning and perhaps reflect on the repurposing project and need to reuse materials as part of the circular economy. 

Design process

Simon Dennehy from Perch Design is the BladeBridge's Creative Director. As a designer, Simon believes in the importance of highlighting blade engineering features in any new form.

He says, “These blades are amazing, organic, undulating and asymmetric structures and I want to preserve these design aspects so that people will know that they are sitting on, or standing under, something that was once part of a wind turbine, which will now last for many more decades.

"This is innovative engineering and design promoting environmental stewardship.”

In memory of an Irish wind industry pioneer

The centrepiece of the walkers’ rest area is the shelter, which is dedicated to one of the engineers who worked on the site. Jimmy Kelly from Carrowbeg in Co. Mayo was an Irish wind energy pioneer.

Brian Mullen, Head of Energia Renewables Operations, says, “Jimmy was a renewable energy expert and enthusiast. He generated his own electricity at home, was an organic farmer and even made his own Mayo wine. An expert in too many fields to list, Jimmy would no doubt accuse us of making a fuss. However, he’d be blown away to see a blade he’d worked on transformed and still in use.”

Kelly family welcome dedication of repurposed blade

Jimmy’s family were the first to try out the new benches, when they were unveiled on Global Wind Day 2025.

Paul Kelly said the whole family were impressed, adding: “Jimmy was a very humble man and he’d be overwhelmed by this dedication but he was devoted to protecting the environment at work and at home and he’d definitely approve of this repurposed blade. It will be here for decades to come and shows how the wind industry, which was so close to Jimmy’s heart, is addressing the challenge of managing decommissioned turbine blades in a sustainable – and innovative – way.”