Smart Wind Curtailment 2026 Smart Curtailment for Wind Farms

How can wind farms protect bats without losing energy?

Because bat activity fluctuates, Stantec's EchoPitch™ monitors activity levels to identify when turbines need to slow down, helping wind farms reduce risk to bats while generating more energy.

Pollination. Seed dispersal. Insect control. Bats provide critical ecological functions and billions in economic value. Although bats use echolocation to avoid obstacles and capture prey, they appear unable to avoid—and may even be attracted to—fast-moving turbine blades. Bat collisions with turbines, especially those involving protected or rare species, can trigger regulations that require curtailment or full turbine shutdown at night.

Bats & Turbines 101

are estimated to die annually at wind farms in North America.

Hundreds of thousands of bats

Get Started

~33% of energy generation is lost

Blanket curtailment raises the cut-in wind speed above the standard 3 m/s without regard to site-specific information on bat activity. Such strategies are often too restrictive during times of year with low risk to bats and not protective enough when bats are at greatest risk.

By tailoring curtailment around site-specific patterns in bat activity, turbines can safely generate more energy without increasing risk.

~33% more energy generation

EchoPitch™ integrates bat activity, weather, and turbine operational data to identify conditions where risk to bats is higher or lower. This allows operators to customize the cut‑in wind speed for their turbines.

Blanket Curtailment

Smart Curtailment

Improving turbine efficiency

Temperature (°C)

Windspeed (m/s)

This portion of the chart indicates that bat passes occur at low amounts when temperatures are 15°C or lower, and 25°C or higher. Wind speeds show less impact, ranging similarly from 0 to 15 meters per second within these temperatures.

This portion of the chart indicates that bat passes occur at moderate amounts when temperatures are lower than and slightly above 20°C. Wind speeds show more impact, ranging from 0 to 5 meters per second within these temperatures.

This portion of the chart indicates that bat passes occur at high amounts when temperatures are around 20°C. Wind speeds are ranging from 0 to 4 meters per second within these temperatures showing ideal conditions for bat activity.

Moderate Bat Activity When moderate levels of risk occur, such as leading up to or following seasonal peaks in activity, cut-in speeds are generally similar to those of blanket curtailment strategies, though the nightly extent of curtailment can often be reduced.

Low Bat Activity Most of the time, risk to bats is low. Turbines can safely generate more energy during these periods.

High Bat Activity When bats are at greatest risk, higher cut-in speeds are often required. Overall energy loss remains lower than for equally protective blanket curtailment strategies, however, due to the concentration of bat activity during calmer nights within a relatively brief seasonal period.

Number of Detected Bat Passes

2000

1500

1000

500

Even at night, bats are rarely active near wind turbines. Most bat activity occurs during a relatively brief seasonal window in late summer and early fall when nights are typically warm and calm.

Why EchoPitch™

Increase the overall operational efficiency of your wind farm. EchoPitch™ can help you design, evaluate, and adaptively manage your curtailment strategy.

That's how many houses can be powered every year by producing an additional 4.2 GWh.

392 homes

Working with wind farm clients and state and federal wildlife agencies, our curtailment experts have used EchoPitch™ to develop smart curtailment solutions for dozens of wind energy facilities in the United States and Canada. Using EchoPitch™, one New England wind farm was able to generate an additional 4.2 GWh annually while maintaining risk to bats below targeted levels.

Proven track record

Number of Detected Bat Passes

500

1000

1500

2000