Project name: Bat monitoring for the wind farm Jelinak from July to October 2023
Client: Jelinak Wind Farm / Acciona Energija Ltd.
Project partners: Supernatural Ltd.
Period: 06/2023 – 08/2024
Location: Croatia
Bat monitoring for the wind farm Jelinak was conducted from July to October 2023. The following activities were performed as part of bat monitoring:
- continuous bat call recording on stationary locations
- visual monitoring of bat activity around selected wind turbines
- monitoring of bat collisions
- searcher efficiency trials
- preparation of Mission reports
- processing and analysis of results: sonogram analysis, analysis of microclimatic conditions, temporal analysis of bat activity, spatial (GIS) analysis of bat activity, spatial (GIS) analysis of bat carcasses, statistical analysis of bat mortality
- impact assessment on bats for wind farm Jelinak
- communication and consultations with the Client
- proposal of mitigation measures for bats
- preparation of a Final report.
The impact of the wind farm on bats was monitored by recording bat calls on two stationary locations to determine their activity for all nights in the monitoring period, by visually observing bat behaviour around selected wind turbines using thermal imaging cameras and by searching for bat carcasses around wind turbines to determine casualties.
Sonograms from the bat calls recording were analyzed in the BatExplorer software with the help of literature. Bat activity was analyzed temporally, spatially, and in relation to microclimatic conditions. The bat carcasses were examined and identified, and their position in relation to the wind turbines was analyzed in GIS. The number of bat carcasses was corrected with carcass persistence, searcher efficiency, the proportion of searched area and carcass distance from wind turbines using R statistical software and GIS. Based on the analysis of the results significance of casualties was assessed and mitigation measures were proposed. The monitoring methodology, results, analyses and recommendations were presented in the Final report.
Implementation of this Project contributes to the following Sustainable Development Goals:
