Used EV Batteries and Refurbished Wind Turbine Parts Boost Grid Storage and Circular Economy

Used EV batteries are being turned into large‑scale grid storage, while refurbished wind turbine components now make up over 40% of one firm’s business, driving circular‑economy growth in clean energy.

The rise of electric vehicles and wind farms is creating a growing stream of hardware that no longer serves its original purpose but still holds usable energy or mechanical value. Companies are finding ways to give this equipment a second life, reducing waste and supporting the expansion of renewable power.

Connected Energy takes EV batteries that can no longer power vehicles and bundles them into stationary storage units. Engineers first test each pack’s remaining capacity, then connect dozens of modules into a rack‑scale system that can store megawatt‑hours of electricity for data centers, factories, or utility grids.

Tania Saxby, head of sustainability at Connected Energy, leads the effort to quantify the climate benefit of reusing these batteries. Her team conducts a life‑cycle assessment that compares greenhouse‑gas emissions from manufacturing a new lithium‑ion pack with those from repurposing a used one, tracking energy use, material extraction, and end‑of‑life processing.

Renewable Parts reports that remanufactured wind turbine components—such as gearboxes, actuators, and circuit boards—now account for more than 40% of its total sales and continue to increase. The firm tracks the share of refurbished parts in every order, measuring growth year over year as more operators choose rebuilt units over new replacements.

These practices expand the availability of grid‑scale storage without the environmental cost of producing fresh batteries or turbine parts, lower the price of backup power, and keep valuable materials in use longer. As more EVs retire and wind farms age, the supply of second‑life hardware is expected to rise, further strengthening the circular‑economy loop in clean energy.

Watch for upcoming pilot projects that pair second‑life battery storage with solar‑plus‑wind hybrid plants, and for policy incentives that could accelerate the adoption of remanufactured components across the US energy sector.