Large decommissioning cost burdens of offshore wind turbines across China’s ocean
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: While the cost competitiveness of wind farms is critical for large-scale deployment, their end-of-life decommissioning costs are often overlooked. This is mainly due to a lack of methodology to capture their distribution and turbine-specific factors. Here, we develop an integrated approach that combines satellite images, machine learning, and a cost estimation model to capture essential features of each offshore wind turbine and quantify their potential decommissioning cost. We found that around 5,921 offshore wind turbines were installed by 2022, the decommissioning cost of which could reach as high as 11.1–32.5 billion RMB. Notably, supposing all embedded materials are recycled from turbines to offset decommissioning cost, an around 30% cost gap still persists, with 11%–86% disparities at a per-unit turbine level. Therefore, it is recommended to adopt proactive, tailored decommissioning strategies that consider the heterogeneity of wind turbines to avoid financial deficits following offshore wind retirement.
Source: Chem Circularity
Institutions: Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Urban Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, The University of Melbourne, The University of Adelaide, Shandong University, Leiden University, Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research, University of Technology Sydney, CHN Energy (China), University of California, Santa Barbara
Language: English
Subfield: Ocean Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Awards: G4193703111, G6526125440, G6688347216
OpenAlex ID: W7160072029