Quebec introducing new rule to reduce bat deaths linked to wind farms

Quebec’s Environment Department says it is introducing a new measure to mitigate the impact of wind farms on bats native to the province.

The government will require all future wind farm projects to increase turbine cut-in speeds — when the blades start rotating and generating power — to 5.5 metres per second at night between June 1 and Oct. 15.

Those months coincide with the period of the year when bats are most active in North America — and when they are most often killed by turbines.

The department says the measure has proven effective elsewhere and should significantly reduce the risk of bats colliding with turbines in Quebec, the second-largest wind energy market in Canada, after Ontario.

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In June, the province designated four of eight bat species in Quebec as threatened or vulnerable, and said that three of the four others are likely to meet the criteria in the future to be designated as threatened of vulnerable.

The province says the new rule is part of a series of protection measures to help save these species.

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