Wind industry aims to cut bat killings

Wind power companies are slowing down their turbines this fall in an effort to dramatically reduce the number of bats the blades kill.

By reducing the speed of turbines to between one and three revolutions per minute during bats’ top migrating season, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) hopes to eliminate 30 percent of the bat killings that would happen this year.

{mosads}If successful, the strategy could take a big bite out of one of the top criticisms of wind power: that its fast-moving blades kill wildlife such as birds and bats.

Seventeen AWEA member companies have agreed to the plan, representing about 60 percent of the wind power capacity in the country.

“The adoption of this protocol to reduce impacts to bats is a continuation of our legacy of care for wildlife and the environment,” AWEA chief Tom Kiernan said in a Thursday statement. “American wind power is strongly committed to producing one of the safest and cleanest forms of energy, for people and wildlife.”

On the flip side, slowing turbines will reduce the amount of emissions-free electricity that the wind sector produces. But AWEA said it is an acceptable trade-off for the companies that signed on.

The approach is a result of cooperation between AWEA and key wildlife groups and federal agencies, AWEA said.

Conservation groups were hopeful that the strategy will yield results.

“The implementation of this industry-wide practice is an important step and demonstrates how far the wind energy industry has come on the issue of bats,” Andrew Walker, executive director of Bat Conservation International, said in a statement. “We believe this could substantially reduce bat fatalities at participating facilities across the country.”

A 2013 study concluded that wind turbines kill 600,000 to 900,000 bats annually.