Between 6 and 25 million each year birds die Colliding with the blades of a wind turbine in Spain. This figure is expected to increase as wind power continues to develop in Spain. Collisions with windmills, affecting all kinds of creatures, including those in danger of extinction, have been one of the biggest accusations against such facilities for decades. In this context, a number of new control and monitoring technologies have been developed in real time over the past year that seek to end or at least mitigate the impact of windmills on the communities of these poultry creatures.
The new vehicles, which are starting to appear in markets around the world, have the ability to stop the wings of windmills when they detect the presence of a bird flying nearby, as well as deter animals from passing close to the facility. This situation DTBird devicean autonomous system placed on the same wind turbine or at its base, which can watch the birds in real time.
Some autonomous communities, such as Catalonia, are starting to require all companies that support wind projects to install “the most efficient technological systems”. While Ana Carricondo, director of the Spanish Ornithological Society (Seo Birdlife), welcomes such measures, fears they will be used as excuses to “put wind turbines everywhere”. “We don’t want this to mean a free way for companies to put mills anywhere, implying that they don’t harm the birds,” Carricondo explains.
According to him, it would be dangerous to think that this is the definitive solution and would lead to installation in “highly sensitive migration zones”, for example “as no device is 100% effective”. “Effectiveness varies greatly depending on weather and visibility,” he insists.
Such devices are not “new”, although they are getting better and more precise and efficient. “We’ve been recommending its use since 2011 in conjunction with other techniques to reduce mortality,” he says, because “anything that contributes to reducing mortality is welcome.”
The device is equipped with three modules. One for detection consists of: HD and thermal cameras monitoring the 360º field of view around the wind turbine and detecting the presence of birds in real time, so quick decisions can be made to avoid a collision. It also has an interceptor module adapted to various species that makes deterrent sounds to birds when they fly in a dangerous area. The last module that makes up this device, regulates the movement of the wings. It can automatically stop or restart the generator. depends on a previous risk assessment that it performs in real time. It also adapts to different species and bird groups.
As early as 2011, the Spanish Ornithological Society estimated that “more than 18,000 wind turbines in Spain could cause between 6 and 18 million deaths of birds and bats annually”. Since then, that number has grown at the same rate as the number and extension of wind farms. In a later study, the same organization showed quantitative data: 6,058 records of birds admitted to Fauna Rescue Centers after collisions with wind turbines between 2000 and 2018. This is the sixth reason for admission to these centers with 3.74. percentage of the total.
Although no other studies have followed suit, SEO/BirdLife warned that these numbers could be much higher, given that there are currently around 1,300 wind farms and more than 21,000 wind turbines spread across Spain.
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