Recovering Rare-Earth Magnets from Wind Turbines—A Potential Analysis for Germany

Anton Jäger; Zoe Chunyu Miao; Steffi Weyand

doi:10.3390/en18102436

Recovering Rare-Earth Magnets from Wind Turbines—A Potential Analysis for Germany

Anton Jäger, Zoe Chunyu Miao, Steffi Weyand

Technical University of Darmstadt

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

Wind power forms the major contributor to Germany’s goal of transforming the energy sector and becoming climate-neutral until 2045. The increasing installation of wind turbines comes with an increasing demand for rare-earth elements, especially neodymium, praseodymium and dysprosium, to produce high-performing magnets. However, these elements are considered to be critical raw materials because of their supply risk and economic importance. The European Commission aims to ensure supply chain resilience by improving the circularity of these critical raw materials. After an average of 20 years, wind turbines transition into their End-of-Life phase. This work aims to map the present and future potential of NdFeB magnets used in wind turbines in Germany to be introduced into a circular economy resulting in material amounts of potentially recycled magnets and secondary rare-earth elements considering different potential End-of-Life pathways.

Original language	English
Article number	2436
Journal	Energies
Volume	18
Issue number	10
Early online date	9 May 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/en18102436
Publication status	Published - 9 May 2025
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 by the authors.

Data Availability Statement

The original contributions presented in this study are included in the
article/Supplementary Materials. Further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Funding

This research was funded by BMWK (Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action), grant number 03EI5002C (Kreislauffähige E-Wende).

Funders	Funder number
Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz	03EI5002C

Keywords

NdFeB magnets
circular economy
critical raw materials
rare-earth elements
recycling
wind turbines

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
Fuel Technology
Engineering (miscellaneous)
Energy Engineering and Power Technology
Energy (miscellaneous)
Control and Optimization
Electrical and Electronic Engineering

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.3390/en18102436Licence: CC BY

Cite this

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doi = "10.3390/en18102436",

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AU - Jäger, Anton

AU - Miao, Zoe Chunyu

AU - Weyand, Steffi

PY - 2025/5/9

Y1 - 2025/5/9

N2 - Wind power forms the major contributor to Germany’s goal of transforming the energy sector and becoming climate-neutral until 2045. The increasing installation of wind turbines comes with an increasing demand for rare-earth elements, especially neodymium, praseodymium and dysprosium, to produce high-performing magnets. However, these elements are considered to be critical raw materials because of their supply risk and economic importance. The European Commission aims to ensure supply chain resilience by improving the circularity of these critical raw materials. After an average of 20 years, wind turbines transition into their End-of-Life phase. This work aims to map the present and future potential of NdFeB magnets used in wind turbines in Germany to be introduced into a circular economy resulting in material amounts of potentially recycled magnets and secondary rare-earth elements considering different potential End-of-Life pathways.

AB - Wind power forms the major contributor to Germany’s goal of transforming the energy sector and becoming climate-neutral until 2045. The increasing installation of wind turbines comes with an increasing demand for rare-earth elements, especially neodymium, praseodymium and dysprosium, to produce high-performing magnets. However, these elements are considered to be critical raw materials because of their supply risk and economic importance. The European Commission aims to ensure supply chain resilience by improving the circularity of these critical raw materials. After an average of 20 years, wind turbines transition into their End-of-Life phase. This work aims to map the present and future potential of NdFeB magnets used in wind turbines in Germany to be introduced into a circular economy resulting in material amounts of potentially recycled magnets and secondary rare-earth elements considering different potential End-of-Life pathways.

KW - NdFeB magnets

KW - circular economy

KW - critical raw materials

KW - rare-earth elements

KW - recycling

KW - wind turbines

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ER -

Recovering Rare-Earth Magnets from Wind Turbines—A Potential Analysis for Germany

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Data Availability Statement

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

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