Vattenfall, Spoor and the British Trust for Ornithology are partnering to trial AI software that records and monitors how seabirds interact with offshore wind turbines.
Spoor, a Norwegian AI start-up, has developed the technology to track the 3D flight path of birds through a wind farm and near the turbine blades, providing valuable insights on bird flight patterns and behaviour, as well as potentially detecting collisions.
The innovative technology will be used at Vattenfall’s offshore wind farm off the Aberdeen coast in Scotland, with the findings to be announced in June 2024. The British Trust for Ornithology will provide independent scientific validation of the trial, Vattenfall said.
The data from the study will be used to provide more realistic collision-risk modelling, establishing collision rates more directly, to help in the planning of new offshore wind farms.
Vattenfall previously conducted a research project using radar and camera technology to document seabird flight behaviour. The company is also forming a stakeholder advisory panel to provide advice during the project, including experts from the RSPB, Marine Scotland Science, NatureScot, and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee.
Jesper Kyed Larsen, bioscience expert at Vattenfall, said: “This exciting, collaborative project is the first of its kind to validate camera technologies for 3D tracking of seabirds in the immediate vicinity of offshore wind turbines. Having well understood high quality data is key to providing the evidence base we need to protect seabirds and plan the offshore wind farms of the future which are vital in the fight against climate change.”
Andrew Watts, vice president of partnerships and innovation at Spoor, said: “We’re delighted to partner with Vattenfall and the British Trust for Ornithology on this project. As a DeepTech Biodiversity company it is essential to work closely with renewable energy developers, scientists, government agencies and ENGOs to speed up technology adoption and deployment, so we can make the biggest impact on protecting wildlife populations and accelerating the rollout of clean energy.”
Aonghais Cook, principal ecologist for renewable energy at BTO, said: “Collecting high quality data as part of projects like this is key to ensuring that we can build developments like offshore wind farms, which are a key part of efforts to minimise the impact of climate change, in a way that does not exacerbate the challenges faced by our internationally important seabird populations. This is particularly important given many species are undergoing significant declines in response to both climate change, and other pressures like Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI).”
In recent months, Vattenfall and other offshore wind companies have been affected by rising inflation, leading the company to halt the development of its Norfolk Boreas wind farm.