Reverse Logistic Network Design for End-of-Life Wind Turbines

Energy generation from wind turbines shows an increasing trend for the last two decades. As the amount of wind generation increases, wind turbine (WT) operators face challenges with finding alternative disposal options for WTs over their useful life. Wind farm operator (decision makers) can benefit from a well-designed reverse logistics network to determine the best disposal alternative for WT end-of-life use (EOL). This chapter is an example of the recovery of valuable material that can be recycled/recovered or remanufactured at the end of WTs useful life by designing an effective reverse logistics network. Here, a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model is proposed to determine a long-term strategy for WT EOL. The objective in this model is to minimize the transportation and operating cost as well as finding the best locations for recycling and remanufacturing centers. The results of this study show that due to the high operating cost at remanufacturing centers, sending most WTs to them is costlier than sending them to recycling centers. In addition, it was found that transportation cost depends on the amount of flow that has been sent to the recycling or remanufacturing center.