Map-based collision hazard models were prepared as a set of tools to help guide the careful siting of proposed new wind turbines as part of the repowering effort at Sand Hill in the eastern Alameda County portion of the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area (APWRA). Similar collision hazard models were prepared for the Tres Vaqueros and Vasco Winds repowering projects in Contra Costa County and for the Patterson Pass, Golden Hills, Golden Hills North, Summit Winds repowering projects in Alameda County, as well as for an earlier version of the Sand Hill repowering project. After three years of fatality monitoring following construction, it was found that the repowering of Vasco Winds reduced fatalities of raptors as well as all birds as a group. Our newest set of models for Sand Hill benefit from the lessons learned at Vasco Winds, as well as from many additional data collected through 2015 and the emergence of dependent variables and predictor variables that we believe result in superior collision hazard models. The new models were derived from an additional four years of fatality monitoring data, including monitoring with much shorter fatality search intervals at repowered, modern wind turbines as well as at some old-generation wind turbines. And like the models developed for Sand Hill and Golden Hills North, the golden eagle collision hazard model was partly derived from GPS/GSM telemetry data transmitted by golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) flying within the APWRA.
Year Published: 2018