Project name: Bat monitoring for the wind farm Jelinak from June 2020 to October 2022
Client: Acciona energija Ltd.
Period: 05/2020 – 10/2022
Location: Croatia
Bat monitoring for the wind farm Jelinak was conducted from June to October 2022. Monitoring was designed in coordination with monitoring reports from previous years of post-construction monitoring at wind farm Jelinak, in agreement with Vjetroelektrana Jelinak Ltd.
The following activities were performed as part of bat monitoring:
- literature analysis
- continuous bat call recording on stationary locations
- periodic bat call recording on a transect route
- monitoring of bat collisions
- searcher efficiency and carcass persistence 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 the 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 determining bat activity around each wind turbine using walked bat detector surveys along a transect route 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, the significance of casualties was assessed and mitigation measures were proposed. The monitoring methodology, results, analyzes and recommendations were presented in the Final report.
