Dutch world first: noise barrier made from wind turbine blades
(Photo: Rijkswaterstaat)
July 2, 2025 – The world’s first noise barrier made from repurposed wind turbine blades, the Blade Barrier, was unveiled on July 2 at Rijkswaterstaat’s Innovation Strip along the A58 motorway near the Kloosters service area in Oirschot, the Netherlands. This pilot installation is 60 meters long and will be monitored and tested for performance until the end of 2026.
The barrier consists of two full-length blades and one cut section, enabling testing of all common connections for feasibility and noise reduction performance. Compared to conventional noise barriers, these blades require minimal foundation. When embedded in an earthen embankment, a minimum height of 3 meters can easily be achieved. With this setup, Rijkswaterstaat aims to assess acoustic performance, feasibility, maintenance needs, and environmental impact (MKI), in order to consider wider adoption within the Netherlands and beyond, if results prove favorable. In a circular economy, it is preferable to reuse decommissioned wind turbine blades locally.
The Blade Barrier is an initiative of Blade-Made, a startup with a mission to give hard-to-recycle wind turbine blades a second life as secondary building materials.
