The adoption of wind power in the U.S. has soared in recent years as more consumers and communities are lured in by the promise of clean energy. But not everyone sees wind turbines as a bright, shiny solution to fossil fuel dependency: Bird lovers have been in a flap over the technology they say poses a major threat to dozens of species of our flying friends.
A study from Stanford University in 2016 found that, annually, 234,012 birds meet their demise in the U.S. due to wind turbines. Researchers and the private sector are working on solutions, and a promising one has come out of Louisville.
IdentiFlight last month announced a major order from Duke Energy Renewables, a division of North Carolina-based Duke Energy, for its bird detection- and collision prevention-system. The order will result in the first commercial deployment of IdentiFlight's technology.
We chatted with IdentiFlight President Tom Hiesterto learn more about how IdentiFlight works to keep wind turbines turning and birds out of harm's way:
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
1. How does the technology work?
The technology detects something moving in the environment, maybe 1,000 meters out. It will identify objects that are large enough to be an eagle and ignore non-important movement.
If it appears it might be an eagle, we will point the camera at it and measure the distance from the camera, and therefore the size of the bird. The machine vision analysis will be able to identify what species of bird it is. IdentiFlight can do one of three things with the information for our clients: provide that analysis information for up-front studies for potential wind farm, provide that visual display to operators of wind farms, or provide both the display and a signal that can control specific turbines.
If we identify a bird we know to be a protected species like an eagle, and we see that it's too close to a specific turbine, we can send a signal to slow that turbine down in order to avoid a collision.
The top speed of a turbine blade is about 170 mph, so it's clipping along pretty fast even though it looks like a nice, graceful rotation. Our technology can slow the blades down to what people believe is a safe speed for birds within 20-30 seconds.
1. How was this technology developed?
IdentiFlight is an affiliate of Boulder Imaging. We're a separate company with common ownership. Boulder Imaging has been in business for 20-some years, working largely on factory inspection for defects. I used to be with a Broomfield company, and we contracted Boulder Imaging to develop machine vision technology.
We found our way to Duke, which rather infamously had been prosecuted for eagle-related issues on its Top of the World Windpower Project. (Duke in 2013 was forced to pay more than $1 million in fines related to the deaths of over 150 protected birds that occurred at Duke's two Wyoming wind farms.)
Duke ordered 24 systems from us; four are upgrades of our prototypes that they'd already been using, and 20 are brand-new. That will cover about half their operation in Wyoming, and we expect to do the second half next year.
3. How is IdentiFlight an improvement to what wind farms are doing now to avoid collisions?
Many wind farms are doing detection and turbine shutdowns manually. They put people out there with binoculars and they can order the shutdown of turbines in a manual fashion. I think all the operators want to ultimately go to automatic control.
In addition, the wind industry is trying to figure out where they can build. Permitting is difficult because of the eagle issue; it prevents further development of wind projects quite often. We want IdentiFlight to be able to help a company develop a permitting strategy.
4. Do you have any data on how much the technology reduces collisions or deaths?
Most of the testing we've done is around our ability to detect and classify birds with the IdentiFlight technology. Independent testing from the The Peregrine Fund and the American Wind Wildlife Institute (AWWI) has proven that ability, and the study results will be published in a scientific journal next year.
Duke is very comfortable with what our technology can do, which is why they're the first company to place an order. Our other customers are going through some testing periods first before they contract with us.
5. So are there more deal announcements on the horizon?
We've got a very big continuing order with Duke. We've got another order under contract in California, and a commitment from an operator in eastern Oregon. We're also pretty far down the road with customers in Germany and Australia.
The wind business has lots of ability to grow, and we intend to become an enabling technology to build more wind projects in the U.S. and globally.