Turbine shutdown as an essential tool to prevent soaring bird fatalities at the Gulf of Suez

Climate change caused by high emissions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere demands for worldwide reduction in
fossil fuel energy production and increased use of wind energy as a clean alternative. However, there is a potential conflict
between wildlife conservation and wind energy production. Bird mortalities may be high at windfarms installed along
migratory flyways and bottlenecks, where a large number of species and large proportions of their global populations
congregate during migration.
The Rift Valley/Red Sea (RV-RS) flyway is the second most important flyway in the world for soaring birds, connecting the
species’ breeding grounds in Eurasia and the wintering grounds in sub-Saharan Africa. Soaring birds depend on thermals
for migration and thus congregate in large numbers at straits and land bridges to avoid long crosses over sea. The Gabel
el Zayt in Egypt, classified as an important bird area is an integral part of the RV-RS flyway. It is located on the shores of
the Red Sea, south of the Gulf of Suez land bridge, and its geographical configuration funnels the migratory birds through
a narrow land strip framed by the Red Sea mountains and the coastline. Wind regimens in Gabel el Zayt are among the
best for wind energy production and large windfarms are already operating in the area.
To mitigate soaring bird mortalities at the 240 MW Gabel el Zayt windfarm, STRIX conducted radar assisted wind turbine
shutdowns during spring migration from 2016 to 2020.
STRIX also established a monitoring program to quantify the number of soaring birds migrating daily, further assess the
international importance of the site, and evaluate the risk of mortality due to collisions. Fieldwork was conducted daily
from early morning to late afternoon at vantage points located at the perimeter and centre of the windfarm. Observers
followed all movements of birds within and outside the windfarm and recorded, among other data, time of observation,
species, number of individuals, flight height and flight direction. Meteorological data was recorded hourly. Daily estimates
of the number of migratory birds were produced by excluding movements recorded by more than one vantage point.
STRIX’s monitoring of soaring birds in the Gabel el Zayt windfarm is to date the most comprehensive study in the region
covering the entire spring migration.
Forty soaring bird species were recorded between 2016 and 2020, including seven globally threatened and two near
threatened species. The total number of soaring birds per year averaged 309,041 individuals and was highest in 2016
with 397,076 recorded soaring birds. Results also show that the site is of international importance for the conservation of
18 species, with numbers recorded per year surpassing 1% of the estimated flyway population. Noteworthy, numbers
recorded for seven species surpassed 10% of the flyway population. Furthermore, the application of migrant collision risk
Band models to evaluate the species’ vulnerability to mortality by collision, indicates that expected mortalities are not
negligible for a large array of species, thus highlighting the importance of conducting radar assisted shutdown operations
at windfarms in the region.

CWW2022 4 - 8 April 2022 Egmond aan Zee, Netherlands Poster Presentations
96
Theme: 5. Wind and wildlife interaction in practice
Turbine shutdown as an essential tool to prevent soaring bird mortality at the Gulf of
Suez
Alexandre Leitão, Pedro Moreira, Nadine Pires, Nuno C. Vieira, Filipe Canário, Miguel Repas
Correspondence author: Alexandre Leitão, STRIX
Email: alexandre.leitao@strix.pt