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Pipistrelle bats feed when wind speeds are low, so the RSPB’s turbine will be switched off at those times.
Pipistrelle bats feed when wind speeds are low, so the RSPB’s turbine will be switched off at those times. Photograph: Hugh Clark/www.bats.org.uk
Pipistrelle bats feed when wind speeds are low, so the RSPB’s turbine will be switched off at those times. Photograph: Hugh Clark/www.bats.org.uk

RSPB plans ‘bat-friendly’ wind turbines at Bedfordshire HQ

This article is more than 8 years old

The charity, known for its opposition to turbines, claims to have commissioned a model that will not threaten local pipistrelle and noctule bats

It is renowned for its opposition to the installation of wind turbines across the nation. According to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the machines’ blades pose too much of a threat to local species in many areas.

But now the RSPB has joined the opposition. The organisation has agreed to the construction of an 800kW wind turbine at Sandy in Bedfordshire – the site of its headquarters and one of its most important nature reserves.

Known simply as The Lodge, the reserve is home to woodpeckers, nuthatches, nightjars, hobbies and several other important species, but now those birds will have to share their heathland home with a 100-metre tower fitted with 53-metre blades.

However, the RSPB insists that the turbine – which was installed last week and can supply enough power for dozens of homes – has been positioned to minimise any impact on local wildlife. More importantly, it has been designed to switch off automatically whenever wind conditions reach levels that might threaten local wildlife, in particular the populations of pipistrelle and noctule bats found in the area.

“Climate change is going to have a huge impact on Britain’s bird population and we have to do our bit to reduce carbon emissions,” said Martin Harper, RSPB director of conservation. “This turbine will generate energy equivalent to more than half the electricity we use at all our 127 sites in the UK. More to the point, we are going to do it in a way that poses no threat to the local wildlife.”

The turbine, on a ridge at one edge of the RSPB site near Sandy, has been built by the renewable energy company Ecotricity. Surveys carried out by the company over the past two years suggest the likelihood of local breeding birds colliding with blades is low. “However, our monitoring did detect periods of bat activity at certain times at the site. Noctules and pipistrelles tend to feed there at dawn and dusk when wind speeds are low,” said Harper. “So we will turn off the wind turbine half an hour either side of sunrise and sunset when wind speeds are below seven metres per second. We will take a little hit in terms of electricity generation potential, but it should protect the noctules and pipistrelles. Essentially, we have bat-proofed our turbine.”

However, the RSPB has emphasised that it is still strongly opposed to many of the wind turbine projects being built or planned in the UK. In particular, it believes the Hornsea Project One offshore wind farm – a massive array of turbines whose construction off the east Yorkshire coast was last week confirmed by Dong Energy – is likely to lead to unacceptably high deaths of kittiwakes and gannets.

“We support the principles of renewable energy,” said Harper. “But in some cases we believe the siting of a turbine array could lead to unnecessary deaths of birds. One of those is the Hornsea wind farm. However, it should be noted that we have been involved in a total of 1,031 wind turbine applications in the UK over the years and have maintained objections to only 49 of these. That is less than 5% of proposed projects. So it would be wrong to say we are diehard opponents of wind energy. Far from it.”

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