// Minister Walker informed herself about the performance of the BirdRecorder

[Translate to Englisch:]

‘High-tech from Baden-Württemberg for the compatibility of wind energy and species protection’

On 2 September 2024, Minister for the Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Sector Thekla Walker MdL had researchers from the Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) demonstrate the functionality of the BirdRecorder, an anti-collision system for birds, at the WINSENT wind energy test field in southern Germany. The technical system has been developed at the ZSW in recent years using state-of-the-art methods from the fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. It is able to monitor the surroundings of wind turbines and prevent protected birds from colliding with the running rotors.

‘The BirdRecorder uses eight fixed cameras to permanently monitor the airspace around the wind turbine up to a distance of around 800 metres,’ explains ZSW researcher Nico Klar. ’If a flying object is detected, it is tracked along its flight path by a moving pair of telephoto cameras. At the same time, AI is used to determine whether it is a bird and, if so, whether it is a wind energy-sensitive species such as the red kite. At the same time, its distance is permanently determined. If a protected bird falls below a certain safety distance, the wind turbine is stopped so that it can pass safely.’

The BirdRecorder's smart species detection enables the shortest possible but very effective shutdown times, in contrast to the blanket shutdown times that are often still required under licensing law today, which can sometimes last for months. The resulting loss of electricity yield can be minimised with optimum protection of the birds by means of demand-based shutdowns. ‘Our specially developed AI models are already able to recognise with 95 percent certainty whether a red kite is present or not. This allows us to optimise the economic yield of wind turbines and their protective function against birds at the same time,’ says Nico Klar.

The BirdRecorder was developed completely independently by the ZSW with funding from the federal government and the state of Baden-Württemberg. Minister Walker emphasises: ‘The system is a prime example of high-tech made in Baden-Württemberg. It is an important milestone on the way to reconciling wind energy utilisation and species protection.’ The ZSW scientists demonstrated to the Minister how well the system already works in practice on a wind turbine in the test field.

This Website uses cookies and third-party content

On this website, we use cookies which are absolutely necessary for displaying its content. If you click on “Accept cookies chosen”, only these necessary cookies are used. Other cookies and content by third parties (such as YouTube videos or maps by Google Maps) are only set with your consent by choosing “Accept all cookies”. For further information, please refer to our data protection policy where you can withdraw your consent at any time.