Ecuador plans to install 19 additional wind turbines on the Galapagos Island of San Cristóbal, where critically endangered Galapagos Petrels fly to and from a nesting colony at night.
The 22 total turbines will enable the island to significantly reduce its use of diesel fuel while also meeting a booming electricity demand resulting from the archipelago’s huge ecotourism appeal.
The Global Sustainable Electricity Partnership (GSEP), a non-profit association of 11 electricity firms are leading and financing the $10 million project. ELECGALÁPAGOS S.A. is the local public utility for Ecuador that owns the wind-energy project, the centerpiece of a renewable-energy portfolio that one day could convert the Galapagos Islands into a zero-fossil-fuels territory.
ENDANGERED GALAPAGOS PETREL
The Galapagos Petrel is one of the islands’ supreme aerialists with a wingspan of 43 inches (110 cm). It typically forages and lives at sea, coming ashore only at night only on a few Galapagos Islands to nest in burrows. Petrel pairs produce 1 egg per breeding season.
The petrels on the islands were decimated by predation by feral pigs, rats, cats and dogs. Non-native plants degraded the native habitat and introduced goats, burrows and cattle trampled petrel and other seabird nests. Conservationists removed the alien predators and herbivores from many islands and set up additional conservation initiatives while 3 wind turbines were installed on San Cristóbal.
In a statement released May 29, 2016, GSEP said “No petrels are known to have been injured during the eight years of wind turbine operations and nest monitoring reveals the pest controls are working. From 2012 to 2014, hatching success rates increased from 85 to 96%, reproductive success grew from 81 to 100%, and the petrel population appears to be growing.” During that time, 4 frigatebirds and 27 bats were confirmed killed in wind turbine collisions.
The island’s 3 current 800-kilowatt turbines are each 51.5 meters (169 feet) tall with 3 blades that spin with a circumference of 59 meters (193 feet). The turbines were originally installed on El Tropezón hill with “the acceptance” of the Galapagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Foundation.
SAN CRISTOBAL'S BOOMING ENERGY DEMAND
The 3 turbines accounted for 20% of San Cristóbal’s 16 megawatt-hour (MWh) consumption in 2015. The island’s total diesel- and wind-generated electricity skyrocketed from 1.7 MWh in 2007 to 15.8 MWh in 2015. That output is expected to jump 67% to 25 MWh by 2024, when the 22 total turbines will provide 70% if demand, with diesel providing the remainder.
Most islands in the Galapagos archipelago are uninhabited and protected from development. The number of annual visitors is capped at 200,000. San Cristóbal is the busiest of the inhabited islands, all of which have a 30,000 people. That population is projected to rise to 33,000 by 2020.
U.S. WIND POWER CONCERNS
Wind-power development on the Galapagos is part of an accelerating global trend that will will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and potentially increase the number of bird fatalities. Up to 328,000 birds are killed annually in the U.S. by monopole turbines, according to a 2013 study in Biological Conservation by scientists at the National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A study published in 2016 in the Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management found that 25% of Great Plains bird species fly at heights that put them on a collision course with turbine blades.
MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES
A variety of mitigation technologies are being designed, tested and deployed to reduce the risk to birds. These include illuminating the blades at night, which would be particularly important to night-flying petrels on the Galapagos. Daytime imaging sensors can automatically shift turbines into a “risk mitigation level” when airborne animals fly near spinning blades. Other systems involve Doppler radar, smart-cameras, and ultra-sound microphones.
The (U.S.) National Audubon Society’s policy toward wind power supports it as a mitigation of the threat posed by climate change. “Wind power facilities should be planned, sited, and operated in ways that minimize harm to birds and other wildlife,” states the society's position paper.
GSEP media contacts did not respond to email questions about the engineering specifications and mitigation technologies, if any, used on the 19 additional wind turbines planned for San Cristóbal.
ENVIRONMENTAL ECOMOMISTS’ PRAISE
However, environmental economists have praised the Galapagos project. A GSEP news release said the current 3-turbine wind farm won awards from Power Engineering Magazine, World Energy Forum and Energy Globe. Environmental economists say more wind, solar and biomass energy will cut emissions of greenhouse gases and reduce petroleum spills that threaten fragile island ecosystems
For example, in January 2001 a tanker ship hit a reef off San Cristóbal and spilled about 570,000 liters (150,000 gal) of diesel fuel. Some of the fuel aboard the Jessica was to have been used to fuel the tourist vessel Galápagos Explorer II. However, most diesel delivered to the islands is used for power generation.
RENEWABLE POTENTIAL VERY HIGH
“The potential for renewable deployment in island countries is very high, and wind projects are launching gradually - Samoa is a good example,” said Alexander Keeley, an environmental economist who is not involved in the Galapagos partnership.
He said utilities on places like the Galapagos Islands as well as small island nations pay twice the per-gallon price of diesel fuel as mainland buyers. However, island nations often lack the up-front capital required for alternative-energy projects.
“It’s important to facilitate deployment in the form of public-private partnership, just like the project in Galapagos,” Keeley said.
