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

Mass. Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

This webinar was hosted by the National Wind Coordinating Collaborative (NWCC).

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.
The National Wind Coordinating Collaborative (NWCC), formed in 1994 and retired in 2020, was initiated and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL); AWWI facilitated the NWCC from 2012 until 2020. Learn more.