Bird collisions with wind turbines are widely recognised as a significant environmental impact of wind farms. Beyond the ecological consequences, the issue weakens the sector’s public acceptance and increases operating and permitting costs associated with environmental monitoring programs and impact assessments.
Alongside proper planning and siting, new methods for wind power development are needed to mitigate negative impacts on wildlife. These may include environmentally friendly turbine designs or operational modifications.
The SKARV project targets the second option, by proposing a solution that avoids major modifications to wind farm operation such as shutting down turbines. It involves developing a system to actively adjust the rotational speed of wind turbines when a bird approaches the rotor area. By predicting bird flight paths a few seconds in advance, the turbine speed can be altered slightly to minimise the probability of collisions.
This approach ensures no significant loss of power production or disturbances to birds and biodiversity around wind farms. The project will develop and evaluate the feasibility of the collision avoidance control system and identify bird species that could benefit from it.