Block Island Offshore Wind Farm Gets Its Own MUSE

Block Island Offshore Wind Farm, the first offshore wind farm constructed in the United States, will utilise DHI’s newly-developed multi-sensor bird detection system (MUSE).

DHI has signed a contract with Stantec, a US-based design and engineering group, for the monitoring of birds at the offshore wind farm. The monitoring will start in February 2017 and will continue over a period of five years.

Offshore wind developers in the US are required to undertake automated monitoring of bird and bat behaviour to identify potential collisions with offshore wind turbines.

The MUSE system has been developed and tested by DHI in the UK for the Carbon Trust’s Offshore Renewables Joint Industry Programme (ORJIP).

The system comprises a combination of advanced radar and digital camera that allows for identification of birds and bats. Contrary to conventional systems, MUSE’s camera is movable and follows the radar detection. Thus, much less cameras need to be installed, which in turn helps the client save costs, DHI said.

Henrik Skov, DHI’s senior project manager, said: “Hopefully our new project at Block Island will pave the way for the application of our MUSE system across the US offshore wind business.”