A wind farm in Zeeland has had to switch off 20 turbines after two fledgling sea eagles died in collisions with the blades.
The provincial government ordered the Kreekraksluizen wind farm to install a bird detection system so that the windmills shut down if eagles are flying in the area. Until then only 13 of the 33 turbines will be allowed to operate during the day.
The environmental service RUD said the owners of the wind farm had not complied with laws requiring them to protect endangered species such as sea eagles.
It took action after a young bird was killed in April, following an earlier incident four years ago.
The eagles are nesting in the Markiezaatsmeer, near Bergen op Zoom, where two chicks are nearly ready to fly the nest, a spokesman for the RUD explained.
“When they start to fly they’re still very clumsy,” he explained. “When they go to their foraging area in the Oosterschelde they have to pass 20 wind turbines. The risk is too great.”
Forest ranger Erik de Jonge told local newspaper BN/De Stem that the birds rarely succeeded in raising chicks. “They’re a heavily protected species,” he said. “If they die they become endangered, so we need to prevent that.”
