Wind developers in the U.S. face challenges permitting and operating wind plants where the risk of bat mortality on the wind plant is significant. The current practice is to increase the wind turbine cut-in speed to 5.0-6.9 m/s depending on the site, the time of year and the risk. While this change of cut-in speed does reduce the level of bat take, it also incurs a significant economic loss for the wind plant operators. Instead of implementing a mitigation practice such as curtailment, the most promising solution available is ultrasonic acoustic deterrent technology that is based on ‘jamming’ the echolocation capabilities of bats. The ultimate validation test of any deterrent technology is its ability to reduce the mortality of bats on operating turbines. NRG Systems and several partners conducted full scale testing on several wind plants across the United States to determine the effectiveness of the bat deterrents at reducing mortality. The results from the studies showed a significant reduction in bat mortality across all wind plants. All bat species showed a reduction in morality but the reduction in hoary bats, silver-haired bats and Mexican free-tailed bats were exceptional. The results of these studies provide wind operators with a powerful new conservation tool to reduce bat mortality beyond what is economically feasible with curtailment alone.
This session is accredited by the State Bar of Texas.
