BioOne.org will be down briefly for maintenance on 17 December 2024 between 18:00-22:00 Pacific Time US. We apologize for any inconvenience.
How to translate text using browser tools
30 July 2021 Reducing Bird Collision Risk Per Megawatt by Introducing Longer Wind Turbine Blades
Yasuo Shimada
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Renewable energy, including wind energy, remains one of the most effective options for controlling global warming. However, increasing wind turbine size (mainly blade size) implies expanding the blade swivel range (rotor sweep zone), and concerns have been raised about a possible increase in the number of bird collisions with the rotating blades. Conversely, an increase in turbine size, accompanied by a reduction in rotation speed might reduce the avian collision risk. The change in the number of collisions with increasing wind turbine size was analyzed using simple collision risk models. The results showed that with an increase in the length of the wind turbine blade, although the number of collisions per turbine increased monotonically, the number of collisions per megawatt generated decreased as a hyperbolic function. These models involved some assumptions for simplicity; therefore, their validity requires testing in wind-power replacement projects.

© The Ornithological Society of Japan 2021
Yasuo Shimada "Reducing Bird Collision Risk Per Megawatt by Introducing Longer Wind Turbine Blades," Ornithological Science 20(2), 253-261, (30 July 2021). https://doi.org/10.2326/osj.20.253
Received: 11 June 2020; Accepted: 5 January 2021; Published: 30 July 2021
KEYWORDS
bird collision
Blade length
Wind power output
Wind turbine diameter
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top