A floating radar that prevents birds and bats from colliding with the turbine blades of offshore wind farms. That is what The Hague based company Robin Radar is offering to wind farm developers all over the world to create an eco-friendlier wind farm.
When large numbers of birds are approaching future wind farm Ecowende, located about 53 kilometres off the Dutch coast, wind turbines can be shut or slowed down automatically on demand for a while. To prevent bird mortality by collision, Robin Radar Systems was asked by the wind farm developer to supply a radar and combine it with DHI’s alert system, camera, sensors and AI software, that will eventually be deployed on this wind farm in the North Sea.
“During high peaks of bird migration they can shut down the turbine in real-time. These tools allow operators to find the right balance between maximizing the energy production of the wind farm and at the same time minimizing the risk of collision with birds or bats”
Sibylle Giraud, VP Wind, Environmental and Civil aviation practices at Robin Radar Systems.
Urgent need to mitigate impact
More wind farms are being built than ever before. In the Dutch part of the North Sea alone, at the end of 2023 a total capacity of 4,7 Gigawatts offshore wind farms were operational. “The exponential growth of wind farming in The Netherlands is huge. The amount of investments is unseen in Europe and worldwide”, says Giraud. According to her company there is an urgent need to mitigate the impact of wind farms on birds and bats and avoid death by collision. That includes monitoring and shutdowns if birds or bats are approaching the turbine blades.
Combined technologies
The three companies are combining their advanced detection systems and data collection. That includes Robin Radar’s MAX® bird and bat radar systems, Danish company DHI’s camera’s, sensor integration and artificial intelligence (AI) species recognition solution MUSE, and Spanish company MIDO’s floating platform FLORA 1, a wave energy convertor generating all the power the systems needs. The technologies will be deployed at Dutch offshore wind farm Ecowende, based in Rijswijk, and according to Ecowende the most ecological wind farm yet.
The floating platform with the bird and bat monitoring system will be operational at the end of this year. From then on it will be collecting and providing data 24/7 and monitoring all birds across the wind farm. It will be the first floating system with such a radar in the world.
Robin Radar Systems is nominated for the ‘Koning Willem I’ award
Source and more information: https://storiesofpurpose.thehague.com/impact/floating-radar-robin-radar-systems-create-eco-friendlier-wind-farm-birds-and-bats
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