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FLEDERWIND

Development of risk mitigation measures for the protection of bats at onshore wind turbines

All native bat species are strictly protected under European and national nature conservation legislation. The habitat of bats is affected by the constant expansion of wind farms. In addition to accidental collisions, wind turbines also appear to cause attraction effects on certain bat species (Behr et al. 2015).

However, the spatial detection of bats in wind farms, which is necessary for the development of risk mitigation measures, is a challenge due to the nocturnal activity, the small size of the animals, the short range of the acoustic signals and the fast flight behaviour.

The aim of the project was to investigate the causes of collisions between bats and wind turbines. To this end, spatial detection systems for bats were optimised in order to understand their flight behaviour in wind farms.

Results

Firstly, a simulation model for the bat species “greater noctule” (Nyctalus noctula) was developed to theoretically predict the spatial detection volume and range for the detection of bats using radar. This model was validated through extensive field tests with artificial objects. After that, a systematic method for manually tracking bats on radar images was developed. The manually identified bat tracks validated with acoustic bat data were then used to develop an automatic tracking system. On average, the automatic tracking matched 83% of the radar bat echoes and 64% of the bat tracks from the manual dataset.

The findings were then used to derive risk mitigation measures for the protection of bats at onshore wind turbines.

 

Project Team:

Polina Krapivnitckaia
Project Leader
Prof. Dr. Carolin Floeter
Prof. Dr. Veit Dominik Kunz
Duration
-
Budget
492.500 €
In cooperation with
BioConsult SH GmbH & Co. KG
FURUNO
ENERTRAG
Leibniz Universität Hannover
UIN
Funding
Federal Ministry of Education and Research
Unit
CC4E - Competence Center for Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency

Contact

Prof. Dr. Carolin Floeter
Professorin für Biologie, Umweltrisikobewertung und Umweltrecht
Department of Environmental Engineering
T +49 40 428 75-6105
carolin.floeter (at) haw-hamburg (dot) de

Prof. Dr. Veit Dominik Kunz
Professor für Elektrotechnik / Erneuerbare Energien
Department of Process Engineering
T +49 40 428 75-6378
veitdominik.kunz (at) haw-hamburg (dot) de

In cooperation with

Logo-BioConsult SH GmbH & Co. KG
Logo-FURUNO
Logo-ENERTRAG
Logo-Leibniz Universität Hannover
Logo-UIN

Funding

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