Questions and answers MIVSP related to the tender 'IJmuiden Ver'

The vision on the ecological side is always under development due to new insights and results.

In order to answer the questions that are now being asked to RWS, different innovation projects are needed. MIVSP is constantly learning and improving with the intention to provide the requested functionality and doing this as efficient and effective as possible. (Continuous Improvement Process)

At the moment we only have a vision of our data goals, and that is to get a better view/understanding of bird behavior in and around wind farms (flight patterns, avoidance, fluxes) focusing on migratory birds and birds from the Bruine Bank. Next to this we are planning on trying to get more information on actual collisions of birds (and bats) with turbines.

That means that the exact sensors or systems are not known or developed yet, so therefore, we will not have an exact list of sensors for future sites. This also means we cannot say anything about specific specs, like range and direction or specific locations on the turbine (platform, nacelle). Most of this information will become available after the tender is already awarded. This will by then always be communicated to the wind farm owner and especially in the course of the development phase there will be established strong collaboration between MIVSP and the wind farm owner for an optimal alignment of the ecological plans. Also in further stages of the process alignment between MIVSP and wind park owners will be necessary and pursued.

However, taking into account these conditions, as a starting point we do have a first preliminary concept (radars, camera’s and telemetry) for IJmuiden Ver which we can share (See slide 22 of the published presentation).

In this preliminary concept RWS has for now planned to install one bird radar on the Alpha site at the border of the park towards the “Bruine Bank”, and one bird radar on the Beta site at the North-East corner.

For bats we are planning on having 2 Motus receivers installed on both the TenneT platforms (Alpha and Beta) in order to follow tagged bats and birds in the park. The Motus antennes are (as far as possible in this stage) fixed in our plan.

As said in the previous question, MIVSP uses as starting point the preliminary concept as shown in slide 22 of the presentation.  The number and type of sensors can change. For now we are thinking of placing 2 big (radar-like) sensors and 14 (camera size) smaller sensors. The time schedule is partly depending on the construction of the park and the planning of wind farm owner. We will be in close cooperation with the wind farm owner during development stage of the park and turbines.

We will install (most) sensors already during the installation stage/ construction stage of the turbine and start our monitoring when the turbine and sensors are operational.

The aim of the final site decisions is to cancel the monitoring obligations, which were bindingly imposed on the permit holder in the draft site decisions, in order to meet the feasibility objections of various submitters of views. The studies mentioned in the draft site decisions are expected to be taken up by the national government and for this reason cooperation is still required from the wind farm permit holders for, among other things, the installation of monitoring equipment on the turbines. An exception is the bat monitoring survey, which will not be taken over by the central government, but is also no longer mandatory for the permit holder.

If you are going to carry out monitoring and you want to know whether you need a permit or whether other matters/notifications, etc. are required, please contact the licensing department of RWS Zee en Delta. What is needed depends on the activity being carried out.

Because the type we are currently using is End of Life and not in production  anymore, so we don’t expect to use the current MIVSP Bird radar.

MIVSP has not yet decided on a specific camera type and will do so in due time after thorough research.

The cameras foreseen in our first preliminary concept will be linked to the radars and will be used to monitor bird (and maybe bat) behavior and collisions. In our preliminary concept it’s cameras, but it could be another system after we have finished our innovation project.

This depends on the type of radar. Yes, adjustments to turbine design are needed. MIVSP has already experience with different radars and setups on a turbine.

No, this will not be possible for measuring equipment.

Bird data: the bird data will become available fairly quickly after the sensor is fully operational and tested. For the sensors installed in the existing offshore wind farms there was a restriction on the sharing of bird data due to a phd-student (University of Amsterdam) working with this data for the prediction model, that’s not the case anymore and also not the case for the radars in IJmuiden Ver.

We will aim to install (most) sensors in the installation phase of the turbine itself, even preferably already during the construction phase on land.

Bird radar/camera: It is possible to have access to that data. Currently the data of the existing radars is not yet easily available, because it needs a lot of post-processing. It is public data, but you have to request for access to it.

Data from the Motus antennas is available for the party who tagged the birds or bats, our data is send to the Motus database and tag owners can find their own data in that database.

Yes, but depending on the kind of data. This will be in cooperation with WOZEP.

For the answer on this question we refer to the final wind farm site decision and tender regulation. Anticipated changes for the tender regulation are communicated in the presentation.

MIVSP can for now only share their preliminary concept on what is planned and their data goals on ecological monitoring.

For a more detailed answer on this question we refer to the Q&A at RVO (Windenergiegebied IJmuiden Ver (rvo.nl).