Adelaide Wind Power Project: 2016 Post-Construction Wildlife Monitoring - Summary Report

Transcription

1 Alai Win Powr Projct: 2016 Post-Construction Willif Monitoring - Summar port Prpar for: Suncor Alai Win Limit Partnrship 150 6th Avnu SW Calgar AB T2P 3E Prpar b: Stantc Consulting Lt. 70 Southgat riv, Suit 1 Gulph ON N1E 7B8 Ma 4, 2017

2 AELAIE WIN POWE POJECT: 2016 POST-CONSTUCTION WILLIFE MONITOING SUMMAY EPOT Ma 4, INTOUCTION Suncor Alai Win Limit Partnrship (Suncor) is oprating th Alai Win Powr Projct (Alai) north of Strathro, Ontario, in th Municipalit of Alai Mtcalf in Milsx Count. Th 40 mgawatt capacit,18 turbin facilit bcam full oprational on Januar 29, 2015 an is shown on Figur 1 (attach). Th nwabl Enrg Approval (EA) for th facilit, issu on cmbr 11, 2013 unr th Environmntal Protction Act, rquirs post-construction monitoring for thr ars, from 2015 to This rport provis a summar of th scon ar of monitoring in 2016, incluing an outlin of th stuis unrtakn, rsults, an a iscussion of futur commitmnts. 2.0 METHOS Post-construction mortalit monitoring was conuct for bats, birs an raptors. Stanar mthoologis for mortalit monitoring wr us, in accoranc with Bats an Bat Habitats: Guilins for Win Powr Projcts (MN, 2011a), an Birs an Bir Habitats: Guilins for Win Powr Projcts (MN, 2011b). Ths ocumnts also prscrib mortalit thrshols for bats, birs, an raptors; projcts that xc a thrshol must implmnt aaptiv managmnt masurs. Th mortalit monitoring program was conuct at Alai from Ma through Novmbr, Th mortalit monitoring consist of: twic wkl mortalit monitoring: at a subst of 10 turbins xtning for twnt-six wks from th bginning of Ma to th n of Octobr monthl monitoring of all turbins for raptor mortalitis from Ma through Novmbr wkl monitoring for raptors at th 10 turbin subst Ma through Novmbr. Furthrmor, stuis wr unrtakn to trmin appropriat corrction factors us for mortalit rat calculations, incluing sarchr fficinc trials to corrct for ovrlook carcasss, scavngr trials to corrct for carcasss rmov b willif (such as raccoons), an a calculation of th prcnt of th 50-mtr raius ara sarch to account for aras not sarch u to poor visibilit. 1

3 AELAIE WIN POWE POJECT: 2016 POST-CONSTUCTION WILLIFE MONITOING SUMMAY EPOT Ma 4, ESULTS Fatalitis rcor uring th Ma- Octobr bi-wkl mortalit monitoring program in 2016 inclu 4 raptor fatalitis (2 spcis, -tail Hawk an Turk Vultur), 2 bir fatalit (2 spcis; Europan Starling an Bobolink), an 14 bat fatalitis (4 spcis, in crasing abunanc of rcovr: Silvr-hair Bat, Hr Bat, Eastrn Bat, an Big Brown Bat). On spcis at risk was obsrv, a Bobolink, which is list as thratn in Ontario. Appling th rsults of th corrction factor trials, mortalit rats rcor at th Alai Win Enrg Projct in 2016 wr: 0.80 raptors/turbin/ar 0.18 birs/turbin/ar 4.08 bats/turbin/ar Th calculat mortalit rats for bir an bats ar wll blow th provincial thrshols of 14 birs/turbin an 10 bats/turbin. Howvr, th raptor mortalit rat was abov th provincial thrshol of 0.2 raptors/turbin. 4.0 ISCUSSION uring th first two ars of monitoring (2015 an 2016) th bat mortalit rat rmain blow th provincial thrshol. As such, aaptiv managmnt masurs for bats hav not bn triggr. Likwis, th bir mortalit rat in 2015 an 2016 rmain wll blow th provincial thrshol an as such, aaptiv managmnt masurs for birs ar not rquir. Th raptor thrshol was xc in 2015 an aptor mortalit in 2016 inclu -tail Hawk an Turk Vultur, which ar both consir to hav scur populations in th provinc. Th majorit of mortalit occurr in th fall. An incras risk of turbin collisions ma occur uring th fall migration prio u to an incras in numbrs of raptors passing through th ara as wll as a lack of familiarit with th lanscap that rsint birs ma hav. To xamin potntial risk factors to raptors an in complianc with th EA, Alai Win is currntl unrtaking caus an ffct monitoring. Th caus an ffct monitoring bgan in 2016 an will continu into 2017, consisting of habitat assssmnt, bhavioural stuis an incras mortalit monitoring frqunc. Following th two ars of aitional caus an ffct monitoring, a raptor mitigation plan will b vlop an implmnt, which will b inform b th rsults of th caus an ffct monitoring. Th raptor mitigation plan will b vlop in consultation with th MNF prior to its implmntation. 2

4 AELAIE WIN POWE POJECT: 2016 POST-CONSTUCTION WILLIFE MONITOING SUMMAY EPOT Ma 4, 2017 A singl spcis at risk fatalit occurr in 2016, spcificall a mal Bobolink was foun on Ma 12, Th mortalit was rport immiatl to th MNF. This is th onl Bobolink mortalit rcovr at th Alai facilit sinc opration bgan in Bobolink is not uncommon in southrn Ontario, occurring in highst nsitis in parts of th provinc with concntrations of ha an pasturs fils, th habitat for th spcis. Within th Alai projct ara, ha an pastur fils for th spcis ar rar. Consiring th limit habitat for th spcis in th Projct ara an th singl mortalit ovr two ars of monitoring, th Projct is not anticipat to pos a high risk to th spcis. 5.0 CLOSING Th 18-turbin Alai Win Powr Projct, locat north of Strathro, Ontario, bgan opration in Januar Mortalit monitoring unrtakn at th facilit in 2015 an 2016 in accoranc with th nwabl Enrg Approval for th facilit intifi rats of bir an bat mortalitis blow provincial thrshols. Calculat mortalit rats for raptors in 2015 an 2016 xc provincial thrshols an as such caus an ffct monitoring has bn implmnt to inform mitigation options. A thir ar of mortalit monitoring at th Alai Win Powr Projct will b unrtakn in 2017, an will inclu stanariz mortalit monitoring as wll as continu raptor caus an ffct monitoring. 6.0 EFEENCES Ontario Ministr of Natural sourcs (MN). 2011a. Bats an Bat Habitats. Guilins for Win Powr Projcts. 24 pp. Jul, Ontario Ministr of Natural sourcs (MN). 2011b. Birs an Bir Habitats. Guilins for Win Powr Projcts. 32 pp. cmbr

5 AELAIE WIN POWE POJECT: 2016 POST-CONSTUCTION WILLIFE MONITOING SUMMAY EPOT FIGUE 1: POST-CONSTUCTION MONITOING SUBSET

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