Data from: Automated curtailment of wind turbines reduces eagle fatalities

Collision-caused fatalities of animals at wind power facilities create a
‘green versus green’ conflict between wildlife conservation and renewable
energy. These fatalities can be mitigated via informed curtailment whereby
turbines are slowed or stopped when wildlife are considered at increased
risk of collision. Automated monitoring systems could improve efficacy of
informed curtailment, yet such technology is undertested. We test the
efficacy of an automated curtailment system—a camera system that detects
flying objects, classifies them, and decides whether to curtail individual
turbines to avoid potential collision—in reducing counts of fatalities of
eagles, at Top of the World Windpower Facility (hereafter, the treatment
site) in Wyoming, USA. We perform a before-after-control-impact study,
comparing the number of eagle fatalities observed at the treatment site
with those at a nearby (15 km) control site without automated curtailment,
both before and after the implementation of automated curtailment at the
treatment site. After correcting for carcass detection probability and
scaling fatality estimates to turbine-years, we estimate that the number
of fatalities at the treatment site declined by 63% (95% CI = 59% – 66%)
between before and after periods while increasing at the control site by
113% (51% – 218%). In total, there was an 82% (75% – 89%) reduction in the
fatality rate at the treatment site relative to the control site.
Synthesis and applications. Automated curtailment of wind turbine
operation substantially reduced eagle fatalities. This technology
therefore has the potential to lessen the conflict between wind energy and
raptor conservation. Although automated curtailment reduced fatalities,
they were not fully eliminated. Therefore, automated curtailment, as
implemented here, is not a panacea and its efficacy could be improved if
considered in conjunction with other mitigation actions.