The methodology provides baseline siting conditions, minimum distances from settlement boundaries and infrastructure, and requirements for turbine removal and farmland restoration.
Based on the Law on the Fund of Specially Protected Natural Areas, it is established that wind energy installations may not be located on the territories of scientific, natural, landscape or resource reserves, national parks, dendrological or zoological gardens, natural monuments or garden and park art, wetlands, forests, rivers and bird migration routes.
At the same time, the document establishes minimum distances from settlements, state, municipal or private public roads, railroads, electrical installations, gas pipelines and other types of buildings and structures. The minimum distances are regulated depending on the type of facility and the size of the wind turbine. Thus, the minimum distance from public roads should be 50 m, from railways – 100 m, from residential buildings – at least five heights of the wind turbine mast (for a wind turbine with a height of 80 m the distance from residential buildings should be 400 meters).
It should be noted that earlier the Land Code was amended to allow the installation of wind farms and the construction of energy storage systems in batteries without changing the intended purpose of agricultural land. This will simplify the process of installing wind farms, which have an installed capacity of 254 MW out of a total of 784 MW. In the fall of this year, the Ministry of Energy will issue a second tender for the installation of wind farms with a total capacity of 170 MW, subject to the installation of battery storage systems with a capacity of at least 22 MW / 44 MWh.
The document also describes the procedure for dismantling, decommissioning, utilization and reclamation of land adjacent to wind farms. Thus, once the equipment has reached the end of its useful life, a dismantling plan must be developed to manage components, waste and restore environmental impact. All components will be sorted by the materials from which they are made, reusable, recyclable parts will be identified, as well as waste requiring special disposal. They will be taken to recycling points, temporary warehouses or other designated locations in accordance with the dismantling plan and environmental requirements.
The main problem is the disposal of the blades of end-of-life wind turbines. As they are made of composite materials that are difficult to recycle. These materials, such as carbon fiber and glass fiber, have a long service life, but after the wind turbines are finished operating, they generate a large amount of waste for which there are no large-scale and effective recycling solutions yet, putting a strain on landfills and the environment.
There is currently a search for ways to recycle composite materials, for example by pulverizing them for use in the production of other materials. Possibilities of recycling the blades after dismantling them are being considered, for example, to create bridges, artificial reefs, street interior elements or other structures. Updated manufacturing technologies can significantly simplify the recycling and reuse of wind turbine blades. For example, there are technologies for manufacturing blades from thermoplastics that can be melted into new blades.
It should be noted that the list of recycling technologies and blade reuse options continues to expand, and companies are actively looking for new ways to turn every end-of-life wind turbine part into useful items.
