Natural Power has been selected to receive funding to develop and test a smart curtailment system to protect bats while minimising power loss during wind farm operations.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) selected ten projects to receive funding totalling US$ 6.8 million that will reduce environmental compliance costs and the environmental impacts of land-based and offshore wind energy. Natural Power is one of four organisations that will receive US$ 2.8 million.
Natural Power had submitted two scopes for consideration and both were successful. The first will be to develop a technology to reduce bat fatalities using real-time data on bat presence and wind speed, which can easily integrate with any wind turbine control system. Additionally, the team will work with the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) to test and improve the SCADA interface to ensure that it meets NERC cybersecurity and compliance.