Barge Master: A small innovation specialist focussing on motion compensation systems that help their offshore clients work as efficiently as possible. The problem found during the Track: the end of life of products hasn’t been scoped out, what results in value loss. Opportunities lie in designing products for reuse and value retention at the end of their lifecycle. Coming period, Barge Master will start by filling the knowledge and data gap, after which the finds will be applied in the re-design.
Osbit: A designer and manufacturer of offshore installation technology. This CIRCO Track their focus was on the transportation of offshore cables - the problem being that the cable carousels are transported empty after the cables are used. Osbit pitches the idea of a cable hub - an end-to-end solution that reduces emissions and inefficiencies in the offshore cable market. With two cable manufacturers (TKF & NKT) present, immediate connections were made for knowledge exchange.
Twentse Kabel Fabriek (TKF): A submarine cable provider. The challenge they face? High-quality recycled aluminum is scarce, yet it’s a key material in cables. Current regulations allow submarine cables to remain in place after wind farms are dismantled, making recovery difficult. TKF emphasizes that recovering and reusing cables would reduce dependency on overseas raw materials, lower aluminum costs, and increase circularity. Their ambition is to support wind farm decommissioning with technical expertise and, to achieve this, they propose a task force to research ecological impact, resource mapping, and efficient recycling methods.
NKT: Another submarine cable provider, facing similar challenges as TKF. Their pitch focuses on exploring the feasibility of retrieving subsea cables in connection to decommissioning of wind farms together with partners, emphasizing the amount of valuable materials such as copper and aluminum in the cables that could serve as a new raw material. They stress the importance of industry-wide collaboration and a possible joint industry project: "We need to work with the whole pie, including competitors." We envision a fruitful collaboration on this between NKT and TKF.
Tree Composites: A producer of composite solutions for wind turbine foundations. Tree Composites sees a value loss in the foundations of wind turbines. Wind turbine foundations are decommissioned and recycled after 35 years—but what if their lifespan could be extended to 100 years? Steel is strong and reusable, but the welded joints have a limited lifespan. Tree Composites has developed reusable composite joints that extend foundation life to 100 years. These smart composite joint-sleeves are even equipped with integrated structural health monitoring to successfully extend the life-span from 35 to 100 years. Doing so will decrease steel use by 50% and provide a 3-for-1 discount on foundations by expanding the lifetime by almost 3 times. The composite joints can also be used to patch up old welted steel frames.
Trelleborg: A producer of wind turbine components, tackling challenges related to offshore monopile corrosion, gas exposure, and difficult decommissioning. Their focus lies on recycling materials and extending foundation lifespan through retrofitting. A key innovation in this is a hinged collar with a grout seal to improve durability and grouting success. Their goal is to develop 50-year foundation seals and explore feasibility with industry partners like Shell and BP, leading to a pilot project.
GBM Works: Innovator in foundation technology. GBM Works advocates for mandatory full retrieval of monopiles in bidding criteria. While the above-ground section is easy to remove, the underground portion is more challenging. Extracting the entire structure could enable 50% more material reuse. Our solution, the ‘Viberjet®’—a combination of vibration and water jetting—helps free monopiles from the seabed, but industry-wide collaboration is essential. Governments should mandate full retrieval, benefiting developers by improving bid success and KPIs while offering contractors an expanded scope of work.
Van Oord: Contractor. Van Oord calls for collaboration through the "Re-Quip" foundationfor sustainable reuse of installation technology to decarbonise the valuechain. ‘We need to rethink equipment by researching the availability affordability and sustainability of green alternatives.’ Collaboration is needed to achieve this. The general message: ‘become a partner to make this happen.’
Vattenfall: As offshore wind farm operator Vattenfall sees challenges in the chain as their own. They note that only 25% of the costs of an offshore windmill park include materials. The rest is production, labour and overhead. How can they assure that these costs are not lost? Their solution: the development of a ‘Re-Life’ platform for the reuse of wind turbine components and materials. By not only re-cycling the (raw)materials, but repurposing the entire components, no costs are lost. This idea needs to be explored with potential buyers and the designers and suppliers of the components.
Shell: Operator Shell highlighted the time-sensitiveness of the problem - we need to act now as the first wind farms are being decommissioned. They emphasize the need for a state-owned entity to drive regulatory changes and ensure a sustainable decommissioning approach.
ECHT - regie in transitie and AYOP: service provider for companies within the offshore wind industry. ‘Let’s build a consortium!’ More information below.

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