Achievement

There have been persistent questions about the safety of migrating birds in the presence of wind farms. We have developed a framework that allows us to consider the costs and benefits of turning off the turbines during high-risk periods for endangered species. We have combined mechanical engineering knowledge about the wind resource and the wind turbine power curve, operations research knowledge about optimization models, and the biological knowledge about of bird migration. We apply our model to a specific case study: the proposed Cape Wind project and the vulnerability of the common loon, during one month of the migratory season. We calculate probability distributions over energy produced, price, and revenue to the wind farm, as well as over loon mortality, and perform an uncertainty analysis. With the goal of mitigating 10 bird deaths during the month of March, the lost revenue per bird averages $171, using the most cost effective strategy of turning off turbines.