TY - RPRT
TI - 2021 Spring Post - Construction Bat Mortality Monitoring Report
AU - Stantec Consulting
AB - The High Prairie Renewable Energy Center (Project or High Prairie) is operated by Ameren Missouri (Ameren), and consists of 175 turbines with an approximate 400-megawatt (MW) operating capacity in Schuyler and Adair counties, Missouri. Due to the potential risk of take of the federally-endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) and federally-threatened northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) during operations, Ameren applied for an Incidental Take Permit (ITP) for these species, as well as for the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus). In the interim, the Project operated under a Technical Assistance Letter (TAL) from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). To avoid potential effects to the Indiana bat and northern long-eared bat, the TAL required feathering of all turbines below 6.9 meters-per-second (m/s) for 0.5 hour before sunset to 0.5 hour after sunrise when air temperatures were above 50°F from March 15 through October 31 based on the 10-minute rolling average at each individual turbine. Due to the fatality of a male Indiana bat at the Project in September 2020, Ameren voluntarily increased the avoidance measures to involve no operation of the turbines when temperatures were above 50°F starting on March 15, 2021. Another fatality was discovered on April 15, 2021; Ameren voluntarily stopped all night time operations starting on April 19, 2021, but continued post-construction monitoring under the TAL until the ITP was issued on May 14, 2021. The post-construction monitoring followed the protocols outlined in the TAL. This included a weekly search interval at 100% of Project turbines. At 10% of turbines, a 60-meter (m) full plot was searched, while at the remaining turbines the roads and pads were searched out to 95-m.
CY - Independence, Iowa, USA
DA - 2021/06//
PY - 2021
SP - 48
PB - Stantec Consulting
UR - https://www.fws.gov/sites/default/files/documents/High%20Prairie_Spring%20Memo%20and%20TAL%20Report_06-15-2021.pdf
LA - English
KW - Wind Energy
KW - Land-Based Wind
KW - Collision
KW - Bats
ER -