In order to find suitable locations for new wind turbines, it is not only necessary to comply with building regulations and the distance to the nearest residential area. Animal rights activists also warn of the collision risk for many bird species.
An invention from the USA is now making headlines. Camera or radar technology is to be used to identify large birds and slow down the wind turbines when the birds approach them. Whether the systems will prove themselves in practice, whether they can limit bird mortality and how they will be financed remains to be seen. Tests in Bavaria are intended to provide information about the efficiency of the systems. However, this is not a solution for the millions upon millions of insects that do not survive flying past the wind turbines.
The question is whether the temporary throttling or shutdown of wind turbines is economically reasonable for operators, who are dependent on returns. It is worth taking a look at Section 45 of the Federal Nature Conservation Act. Paragraph (6) states:
„The order to implement protective measures concerning the shutdown of wind turbines also applies to other specially protected species, taking into account further protective measures. as unreasonable, insofar as they reduce the annual energy yield
1. by more than 8 per cent at locations with a quality factor within the meaning of Section 36h(1) sentence 5 of the Renewable Energy Sources Act of 21 July 2014, last amended by Article 4 of the Act of 20 July 2022 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 1353), of 90 per cent or more, or
2. by more than 6 per cent in other respects.“
Further sources:
https://www.tagesschau.de/wissen/technologie/windraeder-schutz-voegel-100.html
Section 45b of the Federal Nature Conservation Act
