Species protection in wind power projects - A platform for monitoring compliance with species protection regulations for wind turbine operation

So far, around 30,000 wind turbines (WT) have been installed in Germany, and the trend is still rising. To protect bats and birds, operators must in many cases implement shutdown algorithms to reduce mortality. Risks are posed by a possible collision with the rotor blades or, especially in the case of bats, due to barotrauma caused by pressure differences near the rotor blades. In this paper, a technological approach is presented which can provide first indications for monitoring compliance with species protection regulations for WT operation. The technical developments include sensor technology, a web portal, and the timely detection of a potential malfunction. Within the scope of field studies, the first prototypes were successfully tested both with mobile WT demonstrators and with an active WT (type Vestas V82). With a correlation coefficient of 0.982, the rotational speeds determined achieve very good conformity with WT operating protocol.