18 protected bats killed at Liepāja wind farm as operator keeps turbines running
Eighteen dead protected bats were found in two weeks at the Rapsoil wind farm in Liepāja, twice the permitted number. The Nature Conservation Agency ordered the turbines stopped, but the company has not complied and was fined €1,000.
At the Rapsoil wind farm in Liepāja, Latvia, near the city centre, 18 dead specially protected bats were found within two weeks, twice the permitted number. The Nature Conservation Agency (DAP), the state body overseeing nature protection, ordered the turbines stopped, but the company is not observing the ban and has been fined €1,000. The TV3 programme "Nekā personīga" reported this on Sunday.
How the problem arose
The wind farm lies between the sea and the Tosmare nature reserve. After lengthy discussions the planned number of turbines was reduced, and this summer they began operating in test mode. The company had to monitor bats and halt the turbines immediately if more than two dead bats were found near any of them. In late August, when the turbines had run for a little over a month, 18 dead bats were found within two weeks.
Certified bat expert Renāte Kaupuža explained that the turbines are positioned perpendicular to one of Latvia's main bat migration corridors, and the gap between the blades and the ground is small, which is exactly the height where bats concentrate. Gita Strode, director of DAP's Nature Protection Department, said the area is a popular feeding ground and bats hibernate in old bunkers nearby.
Dispute over restrictions
Strode said the company had to limit night-time turbine operation and submit data proving it. As no data arrived, DAP on 11 September ordered the turbines stopped entirely until a bat protection plan is submitted. On the morning of 30 September the programme found the turbines still turning.
Rapsoil confirmed that dead bats were found, but says that until 30 September it halted turbines at night when the temperature was below ten degrees and wind speed did not exceed six metres per second. The company says no dead bats were found in checks on 22, 23 and 30 September. DAP stresses it has not approved these restrictions and that operating data has still not been submitted. The company denies a violation and plans to appeal the fine.
Fine and compensation
The €1,000 fine is the maximum for such a violation. Strode admitted it is very small, since stopping the turbines costs the company more. DAP could also demand compensation for environmental damage: for ten dead bats it could reach €39,000. How to calculate it is unclear, as the farm is still in test mode. DAP believes the real toll may be higher, because carcasses can only be counted at the turbine sites.
Gaps in regulation could be closed by new wind farm supervision rules, which the Ministry of Climate and Energy has been drafting for over a year. Adoption is delayed, as several hundred objections came in during the latest consultation.
The farm is planned to have 12 turbines with a total capacity of 57.6 megawatts. The company is owned by the Lithuanian firm Enervia.
