Abstract
The present study was commissioned by AES Geo Energy Ltd., Kaliakra Wind Power, EVN Kavarna, Degrets OOD, Disib OOD, Windex OOD, Long Man Invest OOD, Long Man Energy OOD, Zevs Bonus OOD, Vertikal-Petkov & Sie SD, Wind Park Kavarna East EOOD, Wind Park Kavarna West EOOD, and Millennium Group OOD in order to collect and summarize the information about the performance of the Integrated System for Protection of Birds (ISPB) that includes 114 wind turbines, 95 of which are within the Kaliakra SPA BG0002051 and 19 are in the areas adjacent to the protected zone.
The ISPB consists of a combination of radar observations and meteorological data, integrated with field visual observations, which jointly used are essential for the accurate risk assessment and to ensure that appropriate action is taken immediately to avoid collision risk. So far as potential adverse impacts of turbine collisions on birds, a Turbine Shutdown System is deployed, supported by an Early Warning System.
The monitoring studies are based on the requirements of basic normative and methodological documents as follows: Environmental Protection Act, Biological Diversity Act, Bulgarian Red Data Book, Directive 92/43/EEC for habitats and species, and Directive 2009/147/EC on the conservation of wild birds, Protected Areas Act and Order RD-94 of 15.02.2018 of the Minister of Environment and Waters. Best international practices are also incorporated (T-PVS/Inf (2013) 15: https://rm.coe.int/1680746245). Detailed information on the scope, technical rules and monitoring procedures are publicly available at a dedicated website https://kaliakrabirdmonitoring.eu/.
The recent surveys of bird migration in Bulgaria show that SPA Kaliakra is in the region of the country to the east of a defined migratory route -Via Pontica (Michev et al., 2012 http://actazoologica-bulgarica.eu/downloads/acta-zoologica-bulgarica/20…)(Figure 2).
Over the past ten years, a series of studies have been carried out to study migratory, wintering and breeding birds in this area and specifically on the impact of a wind farm on birds: http://www.aesgeoenergy.com/site/Studies.html. These intensive surveys over several years have confirmed further that the study area on the Kailakra Cape is, indeed, away from the main migratory Via Pontica migration corridor. To date, moreover, these surveys found no evidence of significant impacts due to wind turbines on the populations of recorded species.
Under an agreement to establish and operate the ISPB, the ornithofauna was monitored during autumn migration in 2018 and 2019 on the above-mentioned territory.
This report covers the period of the autumn migration season (01.08-31.10.2019). The collected information was used to assess the effectiveness of the application of ISPB in Kaliakra in the autumn of 2019. Taking into account the geographical location of the site and previous research (monitoring reports from the Saint Nikola Wind Farm,http://www.aesgeoenergy.com/site/Studies.html), as well as a report published by the MoEW on Nature of the Migration of 42 Birds from the
Bulgarian fauna according to the level of modern knowledge http://natura2000.moew.government.bg/PublicDownloads/Auto/OtherDoc/2762… of migration, we consider the period covered in our study as optimal and representative for autumn bird migration of all target for ISPB species.
The study is specifically focused on target species for ISPB which are diurnal migrants. The data for all bird species flying over the territory, deemed as vulnerable to direct collision with wind facilities are presented in the report.