Impacts of Wind Energy on African Bats
Wind energy is a cornerstone of Africa’s clean energy transition, but it also presents risks to biodiversity. Bats provide vital ecosystem services, from insect control to pollination, yet little was known about how turbines affect them on the continent. South Africa, with its developed wind sector and operational monitoring requirements, offered the first opportunity to evaluate impacts.
Expanding wind energy, missing bat data
Africa’s renewable energy sector is expanding rapidly, yet little is known about how wind turbines affect bats on the continent. Most scientific evidence comes from Europe and North America, but African species and landscapes differ significantly. This knowledge gap leaves developers, regulators, and conservationists without a clear basis for decision-making. The task was to synthesize data from South Africa, the country with the most advanced monitoring, to provide the first evidence-based picture of wind energy’s impacts on African bats and guide biodiversity-safe energy planning.
Synthesizing a decade of monitoring data
Camissa reviewed 59 monitoring studies across 25 wind farms in South Africa, analyzing more than 48,000 search records of bat fatalities. Using standardized statistical methods, annual fatalities were estimated per turbine and per megawatt, while also exploring seasonal and species-level patterns. This approach enabled consistent comparison across sites, identified species most at risk, and quantified the likely cumulative toll of wind farms over coming decades. By consolidating fragmented datasets, a national-level evidence base was created where none had previously existed.
First continental baseline for bat impacts
The analysis showed that bat fatalities occur at every operational wind farm in South Africa, with an estimated 12,600 bats killed between 2014 and 2020 and close to one million projected by 2050 if current trends continue. Free-tailed bats were most affected, especially during late summer and autumn. These results provide the first large-scale estimates of wind energy’s impacts on African bats and highlight where management actions such as curtailment or improved monitoring should be prioritized. The study establishes a benchmark for other African countries embarking on renewable energy development.
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Jonathan Aronson