An Irish initiative by the Clare Local Development Company (CLDC) partnering with Bladebridge has been named the 2023 UIAA Mountain Protection Award (MPA) Best New Initiative (BNI). The initiative aims to convert wind turbine blades from the uplands into trail infrastructure and reduce the impact of wind farming on the environment.
The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation(UIAA) has announced that its prestigious 2023 UIAA Mountain Protection Award (MPA) Best New Initiative (BNI) will go to Clare Local Development Company and BladeBridge, an Irish project which will turn wind turbine blades into trail infrastructure like bridges and stiles. The project was initiated by Clare Local Development Company, supported by BladeBridge from University College Cork, and is also endorsed by Mountaineering Ireland.
The first phase of the project is to repurpose the wind turbine blades that have reached end of life on wind farms into pedestrian bridges walking trails on the Cliffs of Moher Coastal Path. This is the busiest walking trail in Ireland with in excess of 600k users annually. A side project will be initiated to develop stiles and seating from repurposed blades.
This is the first project to use existing upland infrastructure to create trail infrastructure for the benefit of trail users. Currently, trail infrastructure is sourced from generic suppliers, mostly international companies involving large transport costs and environmental damage. This project keeps all the elements as local as possible by where possible:
- Repurposing the blade in a local light engineering firm if possible
- Installing the new trail infrastructure on a local trail using local contractors.
Speaking about the award, Clare Local Development Company’s Rural Recreation Officer Eoin Hogan stated:
“We are honoured to receive this award and the international recognition that comes with it. Our goal is to reduce waste by repurposing decommissioned wind turbine blades while providing attractive and useful new infrastructure. These new bridges will allow more walkers to enjoy the beautiful Cliffs of Moher trail in Co. Clare while respecting the local environment and keeping used blade materials out of landfills.”
Hogan believes this project will be a success if people use the bridges, appreciate the design and the materials, talk about them, and see the benefit of repurposing materials to create new infrastructure and products.
Speaking about the award, Bladebridge CEO Angie Nagle stated:
“Thousands of wind turbine blades will reach the end of their service lives in the next decade. We hope that the award will highlight this project as an example of how to change perceptions of ‘waste’ and to imagine new opportunities to improve the environment by repurposing used materials,” he says.
Success And Expansion Goals
Once the infrastructure has been installed and tested, the BladeBridge team hopes to roll out the project via the Rural Recreation Officer network to other trails in Ireland. Ultimately, the aim is to promote the concept via international trail programmes.
“We are interested in the expansion of the long-distance offroad network all over Ireland. Using sustainably sourced repurposed blade materials to support the development of a sustainable transport network is a win-win in terms of environmental benefits. There are opportunities on greenways and walking trails in every county of Ireland,” says Nagle.
She added that creating products has been a huge learning experience. “We’ve had to address many practical challenges working with complex blade shapes and composite materials and learning how to match the right blade to the right application to ensure that no material goes to waste.”
The project faced stiff competition in the awards from 12 international projects, including from another Irish project – the Croagh Patrick Sustainable Access and Habitat Restoration Project. Ultimately BladeBridge won the Best New Initiative category beating international projects operational on four continents as part of the 2023 MPA. Other nominated projects included how mountain guides are adapting to shorter and more unpredictable seasons, the introduction of renewable energy to Everest Base Camp and how elite sport climbers are adapting their competition planning and logistics to help offset the impact of climate change. The UIAA Mountain Protection Award is partnered by the Bally Peak Outlook Foundation.
You can read more about the BladeBridge project and why it took home the MPA award on the UIAA’s site.
