How to paint wind turbine blades

Could one turbine blade be painted black?

Now, scientists believe they’ve hit on a surprisingly simple solution: painting one turbine blade black. To save birds’ lives, the Glenrock wind farm run by PacifiCorp on a former coal mine in Converse County, Wyo., today has two observation towers manned by biologists who turn off nearby turbines when they detect eagles.

Could painting a wind turbine blade Black cut bird deaths?

Painting one turbine blade black at RWE’s Westereems wind farm in Eemshaven, Netherlands, may cut bird fatalities. The killings of vulnerable populations of birds can be costly for wind farm operators.

Can black paint reduce birds killed by wind turbines?

Photo by Julian Stratenschulte/picture alliance via Getty Images Dousing just one of a wind turbine’s three blades in black paint dramatically reduced the number of birds the turbines killed in a multi-year study conducted in Norway, report Heather Richards and David Ferris for E&E News.

Does painting wind turbine blades reduce fatality rates in situ?

We tested the hypothesis that painting would increase the visibility of the blades, and that this would reduce fatality rates in situ, at the Smøla wind-power plant in Norway, using a Before–After–Control–Impact approach employing fatality searches.

Could turbine blades get a fresh coat of paint?

If the test in Wyoming is as successful as the one in Norway, turbine blades across the country could soon get a fresh coat of paint. This piece originally ran in the Summer 2024 issue as “Test Pattern.” To receive our print magazine, become a member by making a donation today.

Do contrasting turbine blades work?

After Hodos’s 2003 study proved contrasting blades worked in the lab, the theory needed to be tested in nature. Workers paint one turbine blade black at RWE’s Westereems wind farm in Eemshaven, Netherlands. In the Smøla test, researchers painted one rotor on four turbines black in 2013.