UMIT develops sensors to protect bats and birds at wind farms

Researchers at UMIT Tirol, a private university in Tyrol, are working on two projects to protect bats and birds from wind turbines, ORF reported. One project aims to detect actual bat encounters so turbines can be shut down when necessary, while the other focuses on documenting collisions at offshore wind farms.

Wind turbines are currently shut down according to theoretical values and calculations, said Alexander Sutor, head of UMIT Tirol’s Institute of Measurement and Sensor Technology. Factors including dusk and wind speed are used to determine when the turbines should stop.

The RealBat project uses thermal imaging cameras to detect actual encounters with bats and birds. The cameras are intended to document flight paths and collisions. Turbines could then be shut down when there is an actual risk to animals, rather than solely on the basis of theoretical calculations, Sutor said.

The project is based on data from a wind energy test field in Baden-Württemberg, where researchers have already gained detailed insights into bats’ behaviour around wind turbines.

A second project will seek to reliably detect collisions involving birds and bats at offshore wind farms in the North and Baltic seas. Dead animals fall into the sea and are not recorded, meaning there are currently no figures on such incidents, according to UMIT Tirol.

The project, called “Multisensory detection of collision victims”, will develop a low-cost sensor system combining rotor-blade vibration measurements with acoustic and optical methods. It starts in October and is funded by the German Federal Environmental Foundation. Its aim is to develop effective protection measures.

UMIT Tirol said the research was also relevant to Tyrol, where species protection is a condition in discussions about wind farm locations. Intelligent sensor systems and shutdown periods could allow wind power to be used in an economically and ecologically compatible way, the university said.