New Research on Deterrents and Monitoring for Bats at Wind Energy Facilities Supported by the U.S. Department of Energy

The second NWCC webinar in a series on research supported by the U.S. Department of Energy features presentations on advancements of the commercial readiness of bat deterrent technologies used to minimize impacts to bats and reduce the need for curtailment at wind energy facilities, and on advancements in monitoring technologies to help improve our understanding of the relationship between bats and wind projects to inform future impact minimization solutions.

  • Ultra-Sonic Jet Bat Deterrent System Advancement: Project from General Electric (GE) comparing the relative effectiveness of ultrasonic deterrence versus wind turbine curtailment for different bat species.
  • Evaluating Deterrent Stimuli for Increasing Species-Specific Effectiveness of an Advanced Ultrasonic Acoustic Deterrent: Project from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to improve the effectiveness of an ultrasonic acoustic deterrent designed to keep bats away from wind turbines.
    • Presenter: Cris Hein, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
    • Presentation
  • Passive Ultrasonic Deterrents to Reduce Bat Mortality in Wind Farms: Iowa State University’s passive, blade-mounted ultrasonic bat deterrent device capable of producing a broad spectrum of ultrasonic tones.
    • Presenter: Anupam Sharma, Iowa State University
    • Presentation
  • Blade Integrated Deterrent: Development of an ultrasound device from the Mide Technology Corporation that can be mounted on a wind blade that aims to expand the range of influence of the ultrasound deterrent to effectively deter approaching bats.
  • Bat Tag: Updates on three-year project from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) intended to improve radio frequency transmitters that track and research bat behavior around wind turbines.

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