Iberdrola, the company promoting the initiative, in collaboration with BAT B Accelerator Tower, announces a tech challenge aimed at incorporating birdlife detection systems and the automatic shutdown of wind turbines when the presence of birds is identified in the vicinity of wind farms.

Iberdrola has close to 7,000 MW of installed wind power capacity in Spain, in a context in which sustainability and biodiversity protection have become key priorities for the development and operation of renewable energy facilities. Within this framework, and in line with the increasingly stringent requirements set out in Environmental Impact Statements for both new projects and operating assets, Iberdrola seeks to identify technological solutions capable of enhancing the protection of birdlife in wind farm environments, combining operational effectiveness, economic feasibility, and ease of integration into its facilities.

Objective

The objective of this challenge is to move towards autonomous and scalable systems capable of detecting birds in the vicinity of wind turbines, determining their position and trajectory in real time and, where there is a risk of collision, triggering the controlled shutdown order for the wind turbine sufficiently in advance through the Wind Farm Control Unit.

The challenge also includes the identification of deterrence systems capable of altering birds’ risk trajectory without the need to stop the wind turbines, always from an approach that respects biodiversity and is compatible with the wind farm’s operation.

ROADMAP

Participation & selection Schedule