Economic Impacts of Curtailing Wind Turbine Operations for the Protection of Bat Populations in Ontario
Wind energy is a growing industry in Canada to meet the demand for a renewable supply of energy. However, wind turbine operation represents a high mortality risk for bat populations, and regulators often require that steps are taken to mitigate this risk. The result is concern among operators about...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2023-07-01
|
| Series: | Wind |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2674-032X/3/3/17 |
| _version_ | 1797576295519879168 |
|---|---|
| author | Bethany G. Thurber Ryan J. Kilpatrick Graeme H. Tang Christa Wakim J. Ryan Zimmerling |
| author_facet | Bethany G. Thurber Ryan J. Kilpatrick Graeme H. Tang Christa Wakim J. Ryan Zimmerling |
| author_sort | Bethany G. Thurber |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Wind energy is a growing industry in Canada to meet the demand for a renewable supply of energy. However, wind turbine operation represents a high mortality risk for bat populations, and regulators often require that steps are taken to mitigate this risk. The result is concern among operators about lost revenue potential. This study was, therefore, designed to estimate the theoretical financial impact of curtailing turbine operations to mitigate for bat mortality for all wind farms that were constructed and operating in Ontario, Canada, as of 1 January 2020 (<i>n</i> = 87 wind farms). Empirical data from the Canadian Wind Farm SCADA and meteorological systems are not publicly available; thus, we were compelled to use data from the Canadian Wind Turbine database, the Environment and Climate Change Canada Wind Atlas, and the Independent Electricity System Operator to calculate the total theoretical energy production for all wind turbines in the province using manufacturer power curves and a measure–correlate–predict linear regression method. We estimated the financial impacts for all wind farms on the assumption that operations were curtailed when the Wind Atlas modelled local wind speed was <5.5 m/s between 6 pm of one day and 6 am the following day, between 15 July and 30 September, using the lower and upper limits of power-purchase agreement rates for Ontario wind farms: 115 and 150 CAD/MWh. We used generalized linear modelling to test whether the variability in production loss was predicted based on factors related to turbine design and site wind speeds. We estimated that total annual wind energy production would be reduced from 12.09 to 12.04 TWh if all Ontario wind farms implemented operational curtailment, which is equivalent to a difference of 51.2 GWh, or 0.42%. Production loss was related to turbine cut-in speeds and average site wind speeds recorded between 15 July and 30 September. The estimated profit losses were 6.79 ± 0.9 million CAD compared to estimated earnings of 1.6 ± 0.21 billion CAD, which suggests that mitigating bat mortality may represent a small cost to the industry relative to the conservation benefits for bat populations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T21:50:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-12e7d47991ca443fbf4a35554d7dc08f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2674-032X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T21:50:13Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Wind |
| spelling | doaj.art-12e7d47991ca443fbf4a35554d7dc08f2023-11-19T13:27:33ZengMDPI AGWind2674-032X2023-07-013329130110.3390/wind3030017Economic Impacts of Curtailing Wind Turbine Operations for the Protection of Bat Populations in OntarioBethany G. Thurber0Ryan J. Kilpatrick1Graeme H. Tang2Christa Wakim3J. Ryan Zimmerling4Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment and Climate Change Canada, 867 Lakeshore Road, Burlington, ON L7S 1A1, CanadaCanmetENERGY-Ottawa, Natural Resources Canada, 1 Haanel Drive, Ottawa, ON K1A 1M1, CanadaNextEra Energy Resources, NextEra Analytics, 700 Universe Boulevard, North Palm Beach, FL 33408, USACanmetENERGY-Ottawa, Natural Resources Canada, 1 Haanel Drive, Ottawa, ON K1A 1M1, CanadaScience Policy Integration Branch, Natural Resources Canada, 580 Booth Street, Ottawa, ON K1A 0E4, CanadaWind energy is a growing industry in Canada to meet the demand for a renewable supply of energy. However, wind turbine operation represents a high mortality risk for bat populations, and regulators often require that steps are taken to mitigate this risk. The result is concern among operators about lost revenue potential. This study was, therefore, designed to estimate the theoretical financial impact of curtailing turbine operations to mitigate for bat mortality for all wind farms that were constructed and operating in Ontario, Canada, as of 1 January 2020 (<i>n</i> = 87 wind farms). Empirical data from the Canadian Wind Farm SCADA and meteorological systems are not publicly available; thus, we were compelled to use data from the Canadian Wind Turbine database, the Environment and Climate Change Canada Wind Atlas, and the Independent Electricity System Operator to calculate the total theoretical energy production for all wind turbines in the province using manufacturer power curves and a measure–correlate–predict linear regression method. We estimated the financial impacts for all wind farms on the assumption that operations were curtailed when the Wind Atlas modelled local wind speed was <5.5 m/s between 6 pm of one day and 6 am the following day, between 15 July and 30 September, using the lower and upper limits of power-purchase agreement rates for Ontario wind farms: 115 and 150 CAD/MWh. We used generalized linear modelling to test whether the variability in production loss was predicted based on factors related to turbine design and site wind speeds. We estimated that total annual wind energy production would be reduced from 12.09 to 12.04 TWh if all Ontario wind farms implemented operational curtailment, which is equivalent to a difference of 51.2 GWh, or 0.42%. Production loss was related to turbine cut-in speeds and average site wind speeds recorded between 15 July and 30 September. The estimated profit losses were 6.79 ± 0.9 million CAD compared to estimated earnings of 1.6 ± 0.21 billion CAD, which suggests that mitigating bat mortality may represent a small cost to the industry relative to the conservation benefits for bat populations.https://www.mdpi.com/2674-032X/3/3/17bat mortalitycost of mitigationcurtailmentlittle brown myotismigratory tree batmitigation |
| spellingShingle | Bethany G. Thurber Ryan J. Kilpatrick Graeme H. Tang Christa Wakim J. Ryan Zimmerling Economic Impacts of Curtailing Wind Turbine Operations for the Protection of Bat Populations in Ontario Wind bat mortality cost of mitigation curtailment little brown myotis migratory tree bat mitigation |
| title | Economic Impacts of Curtailing Wind Turbine Operations for the Protection of Bat Populations in Ontario |
| title_full | Economic Impacts of Curtailing Wind Turbine Operations for the Protection of Bat Populations in Ontario |
| title_fullStr | Economic Impacts of Curtailing Wind Turbine Operations for the Protection of Bat Populations in Ontario |
| title_full_unstemmed | Economic Impacts of Curtailing Wind Turbine Operations for the Protection of Bat Populations in Ontario |
| title_short | Economic Impacts of Curtailing Wind Turbine Operations for the Protection of Bat Populations in Ontario |
| title_sort | economic impacts of curtailing wind turbine operations for the protection of bat populations in ontario |
| topic | bat mortality cost of mitigation curtailment little brown myotis migratory tree bat mitigation |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2674-032X/3/3/17 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bethanygthurber economicimpactsofcurtailingwindturbineoperationsfortheprotectionofbatpopulationsinontario AT ryanjkilpatrick economicimpactsofcurtailingwindturbineoperationsfortheprotectionofbatpopulationsinontario AT graemehtang economicimpactsofcurtailingwindturbineoperationsfortheprotectionofbatpopulationsinontario AT christawakim economicimpactsofcurtailingwindturbineoperationsfortheprotectionofbatpopulationsinontario AT jryanzimmerling economicimpactsofcurtailingwindturbineoperationsfortheprotectionofbatpopulationsinontario |