South African Wind Farm Launches Pilot Project to Reduce Bird Fatalities

An innovative measure has been adopted by the Umoya Energy Wind Farm in South Africa's Saldanha Bay Municipality, aimed at reducing bird fatalities caused by collisions with wind turbines. Located 126km north of Cape Town and about 5km southeast of Hopefield along the R45, this wind farm is piloting a blade-patterning strategy modeled after a successful project at the Smøla wind-power plant in Norway.

Dr. Rob Simmons, CEO and co-founder of Birds & Bats Unlimited, detailed the plan: 10 turbines will be painted in a prominent 'signal red' colour, with 10 others serving as controls, remaining unpainted. In its Norwegian predecessor, one blade on each turbine was painted black. The result was a significant decrease in bird fatalities, with a 70% reduction reported by the Daily Maverick at the painted turbines compared to the unpainted ones.

South Africa's bird population, comprising at least 200 species, has suffered fatal wind turbine collisions, according to Samantha Ralston-Paton, birds and renewable energy project manager at Birdlife South Africa. Almost every wind farm in the country has recorded fatalities of birds from threatened and priority species. South African wind farms are obliged to monitor the impacts on birds and report the data to the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment, and Birdlife SA.

Ralston-Paton emphasized the compounded impact of multiple wind farms on bird populations, rather than individual farms. Endangered species like the black harrier, with a population of approximately 1,200 mature individuals, are especially threatened. Increasing their fatality rate by even modest amounts could hasten their extinction.

Without effective mitigation efforts, the impact on bird populations could be long-term, persisting over a wind farm's 20-year lifespan. Mitigation could aid the survival of endangered bird species, considering South Africa's plans to ramp up the construction of wind farms over the coming decade.

Other threatened species reported to collide frequently with wind turbines include the Verreaux’s eagle, martial eagle, Cape vulture, and the secretary bird. As wind farms expand into new regions, new species become priorities, specifically raptors like eagles and vultures.

Adding to avian concerns, the South African Bat Assessment Association (Sabaa) notes that wind turbines seriously threaten bats too. Despite their advanced means of detecting their surroundings, many bat fatalities have occurred due to their inability to avoid high-speed turbine blades. Sabaa's Stephanie Dippenaar revealed at the recent Windaba energy conference that over 64 bat species are under threat by wind turbines, possibly eclipsing bird fatalities.