Turbine Integrated Mortality Reduction (TIMRSM ) is a smart curtailment technology that uses bat activity and weather data to curtail wind turbines only during high-risk periods.
Developed by our bat biologists and software engineers, our system for long-term remote monitoring and detection of real time bat activity supports safe and efficient wind power generation—reducing bat fatalities and helping increase efficiency for safe wind energy production.
TIMRSM leverages the near-real-time capabilities of automated bat detectors and combines it with near-real-time weather conditions to predict high bat fatality and communicate the risk values to the client’s Operations Center, allowing for real-time curtailment of turbines. When the risk conditions change, the controlled turbines will operate normally. In a study conducted in 2015 at a Wind Energy Facility in Wisconsin, this system resulted in an 82% reduction in overall bat fatalities and an 87% reduction in Myotis fatalities.
Bat mortality is common at terrestrial wind facilities where bats frequently collide with fast-moving turbine blades. Bat mortality, especially of federally threatened and endangered species, can necessitate mandatory shutdowns and restrict operations during high-risk periods for bats.
TIMRSM is capable of operating under flexible designs in which bat experts create sensor-turbine groups based on local terrain and recorded or predicted bat behavior. TIMRSM communicates directly with the turbine SCADA system in real-time based on bat presence and weather conditions. If high-risk conditions occur, TIMRSM will signal the SCADA system to shut down the turbines until high-risk conditions pass.
TIMRSM smart curtailment provides bat fatality reductions with a minimal loss of power produced by the wind facility. This makes bat fatality reduction compatible with economically viable power production.
A 2019 study showed that TIMRSM significantly reduced bat mortality by 84.5% across all species relative to control turbines.
The costs for installing and maintaining a TIMRSM system depend on the bat fatality reduction goals, the size of the wind facility, and number of installed bat detectors. The higher costs of additional sensors can be offset by a more flexible regime reducing power loss even further. Let us know your needs and we will work with you on a custom solution to meet the goals of your project.
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Client: Electric Power Research Institute Project Highlights: Normandeau provided technology for a collaborative study...
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