December 7, 2020 | by John Ugland | Engineering + Technology
NRG Systems has developed a tool that will give wind project owners and operators the opportunity to preemptively assess the value of installing ultrasonic bat deterrents on their turbines. The implementation of bat deterrents is important to a wind project; in addition to decreasing mortality to bats, the technology allows for increased renewable energy generation and revenue.
NRG’s interactive Return on Investment (ROI) tool pulls from a database that includes all wind projects in North America. That means that inputs such as project size, year of installation, etc., are readily available. The owner/operator uses additional inputs to model the unique operational parameters of their own wind project, such as time-based availability and capacity factor, as well as revenue inputs such as price/MWhr and any Production Tax Credit (PTC) the project may receive.
The lost annual energy production due to bat curtailment can then be entered. This value can come directly from the owner/operator site if it is known (i.e., pulled from historical data analysis) or NRG can run an additional calculator that can predict losses based on site wind conditions and curtailment set-points.
The output from this model demonstrates to the operator the projected losses due to curtailment over a 10-year period, not only for the wind farm but at the turbine level as well. Based on this lost revenue data, an expected ROI is calculated.
The NRG Bat Deterrent System has been proven to reduce bat mortality at wind projects. By utilizing this model, wind project owners and operators can gain a better understanding of the positive biological impact and economic benefit of deploying Bat Deterrent Systems.
In the video below, NRG Product Manager, John Ugland, walks us through NRG’s Bat Deterrent ROI model. Questions? Contact bats@nrgsystems.com to learn more.
