Avangrid Renewables has secured an incidental take permit from the US Fish and Wildlife Service for its Manzana wind power project in Rosamond, California.
The USFWS has accepted the company’s “precedent-setting” conservation plan that will help fund condor recovery efforts at a facility operated by the Oregon Zoo.
“We appreciate the hard work and partnership of both the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Oregon Zoo to develop this conservation plan,” said Laura Nagy, director of permitting and environmental affairs for Avangrid Renewables.
“This underscores our commitment to responsible renewable energy generation and complements the already robust protections in place for condors and other birds at our operating wind power facilities.”
The funding included in the conservation plan will support the rearing of six condors, a number determined by a population viability analysis to mitigate the impacts of two potential adult condor fatalities over the 30-year permit period.
Avangrid Renewables’ operating wind facilities feature multiple technologies and procedures that significantly reduce risks to wildlife.
These include high-precision optical technologies to identify protected bird species and evaluate their flight paths, and other detection and deterrence systems. At Manzana, a system specific to California condors is already in operation.
The USFWS has outfitted most free-flying condors with a VHF radio transmitter, GPS transmitter, or both, to track their locations.
This provides the opportunity to detect and respond to potential collision risk by curtailing turbines and assessing the area for potential attractants.
Avangrid Renewables has contracted with a third party to monitor condor movements using tracker signals and a geofence technology to help manage risks to the species while enabling the operation of the wind farm.
After dwindling to just 27 individual condors in the mid-1980s, the population has recovered to over 500 thanks to the extraordinary efforts of a broad coalition of regional governments, non-profits across the western United States and other interested stakeholders, including the Oregon Zoo.