Robin Radar Systems is through to the next round of the Offshore Wind Innovation Challenge!
Sibylle Giraud represented Robin at the Masterclass round of the Challenge on September 24th.
She presented our 3D Bird Radar, MAX, and explained how it can be used to track birds in 3D. Max has application in both the pre-construction Environmental Impact Assessment stage (EIA), as well as post-construction during operation. When the wind farm is operational our turbine shutdown module is initiated when certain bird activity thresholds are exceeded in the vicinity of turbines.
Background to the Challenge
The development of large-scale offshore wind farms is essential for the energy transition in the Netherlands. However, the future growth may be limited by the impermissible impact on birds, as offshore wind farms can cause increased mortality due to collision, habitat loss or barrier effects.
The Netherlands may even reach bird impact limits before 2030 already. With the further growth anticipated after 2050, the urgency to effectively anticipate and mitigate these bird impacts is high. New research and innovations are needed to prevent that the impact on birds will slow down the energy transition and make offshore wind farms unsustainable.
The Challenge
How to register the impact on specific bird species on a large scale and how can this information be used to improve mitigation and modelling of the impact?
- To what extent can the design of an offshore wind farm reduce bird collisions, barrier effect and prevent habitat loss?
- Which type of technological innovations can alarm incoming birds for rotating blades and thereby prevent collision?
- How can the same amount of wind energy be produced with slower turning turbine blades which do not cause any collision casualties?
TKI Wind op Zee foresees two possible solutions to this challenge:
- A smart and new technological innovation to prevent bird impact and/or minimize disturbance;
- An innovative research design which improves monitoring and/or modelling to more accurately estimate and mitigate the impact on specific bird species.
Next Step - The Bootcamp
During the Bootcamp on October 29th, we'll be doing a training program and workshop in innovation and out-of-the-box solutions, and of course, we'll be pitching our idea to the jury!