Coquimbo: SMA orders Urgent and Temporary Measures from the owners of the Talinay Wind Farm project due to impacts on birds and bats

This is an automated translation of the original release published in Spanish.

PRESS RELEASE from SMA
July 17, 2024

The Superintendence of the Environment (SMA) ordered the companies Eólica Talinay S.A., Parque Talinay East S.A. and Parque tlinay Poniente S.A., owners of the “Talinay Wind Farm” project - rated environmentally favorable through RCA N°158/2019 - to adopt Urgent and Temporary Measures for a period of 60 calendar days, due to non-compliance with measures established in the environmental permit against the collision of birds (condors and hawks) and bats with the park towers.

Currently, the project consists of a wind farm with 77 wind turbines, 32 in the western section and 45 in the eastern section, which have a rotor diameter of 90 meters and a height of 80 meters. Among its facilities, in addition to the wind turbines, the wind park includes the construction of underground and aerial transmission lines, an electrical substation, two viewpoints and an open cultural center. The project is located at kilometer 354 of Highway 5 North, in the district of Ovalle.

It is important to highlight that the environmental permit for the project establishes the commitment on the part of the holder to keep a record of the birdlife that could eventually be impacted by the project and, in the event that the bird collision rate established in the evaluation is exceeded, it must inform and proceed with the installation of ultrasonic emission deterrents, among other commitments.

The origin of this case is a citizen complaint where at least nine events of condor collisions resulting in death have been reported, in addition to collisions of other birds, the latter precedent based on the monitoring reports of the monitoring plan presented to this Superintendency.

Faced with this background, the SMA Regional Office of Coquimbo entrusted the regional Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG) with the examination of information regarding monitoring reports associated with bird collisions. Said entity sent to the SMA a technical report that contained the analysis of 28 environmental monitoring reports, corresponding to the quarterly seasonal reports on monitoring of birds and bats of the project, from the summer of 2019 to the summer of 2024.

From this report it was mainly confirmed that, in the face of bird collisions with project facilities, the company did not implement the commitment to install sound deterrents (ultrasound), and that the collisions of bats that were not included in the project baseline or in the environmental evaluation would correspond to an environmental effect not foreseen in the project's environmental evaluation.

Given the above, this Superintendency decided to order Urgent and Temporary Measures for the owner of the project. In this regard, Superintendent Marie Claude Plumer revealed that “the measures ordered are intended to protect the species involved, in such a way as to prevent impacts on them. It is important to emphasize that companies or project owners must not only have an RCA to operate, but must also comply with the requirements established in said permit, and immediately take the necessary actions to address the occurrence of unforeseen impacts."  

The first measure that the company must present is a report that reliably certifies the installation of ultrasound emission deterrents, identifying the sector and the wind turbines in which they were installed and the date on which it was carried out.

In addition, the project owner must present a report, prepared by a qualified professional, that refers to the effectiveness of the installation of ultrasound emission deterrents and the different alternative actions to mitigate the risk of collision of flying fauna (birds and bats), other than the complementary measure called “painting of blades” indicated in RCA No. 158/2019.

Said report must conclude which action(s) would best fit the reality of the project, and propose a schedule for the implementation of the actions that are appropriate.

Along with the above, the company must carry out the execution of the schedule for the implementation of the actions to reduce the risk of collision of flying fauna with the towers of the Talinay Wind Farm proposed in the report previously indicated, which must be part of the monitoring reports.

Finally, and as a fourth measure, the owner must present a report on the adaptation of the methodologies for the continuous census program with data on collisions of flying fauna, carried out by a suitable professional, which allows improving the representativeness of the monitoring campaigns for adequately reflect the collisions that occur at the Talinay Wind Farm.

For more details of the Urgent and Temporary Measures, enter the Environmental Enforcement Information System (SNIFA), at the following link: https://snifa.sma.gob.cl/MedidaProvisional/Ficha/477