A Preliminary Assessment of Avian Mortality at Utility-Scale Solar Energy Facilities In

A Preliminary Assessment of Avian Mortality at Utility-Scale Solar Energy Facilities in the

United States

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

Leroy J. Walston, Jr.a,b, Katherine E. Rollinsa, Kirk E. LaGorya, Karen P. Smitha, and Stephanie

A. Meyersa,c

a Argonne National Laboratory, Environmental Science Division, Argonne, Illinois, USA b Corresponding author, E-mail: [email protected] c Present address: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6, Dallas, Texas, USA S.1 Supplemental Information

The supplemental information to this submitted manuscript contains background information on the review of avian monitoring and mortality data at existing USSE facilities. Table S1 lists the results of the available information. Based upon this review, there were three USSE facilities with systematic avian mortality data that could be used to calculate a mortality rate estimate.

Summaries of avian monitoring and mortality estimation at these three facilities are provided in

Sections S.2 to S.4 below. TABLE S1 Summary of Available Information on Avian Fatality and Monitoring at Utility-Scale Solar Facilities (as of January 2015) Technology Known Type and MW Collection of (in Available Avian Avian Fatality Project Name Location Parentheses) Current Status Land Type Monitoring Plan Data Mohave Solar Harper Dry Lake, CA CSP – Trough (250) Operational – January Private NAa Yes – Incidentalb 2015 California Solar One Daggett, CA CSP – Power Tower Decommissioned in Private NA Yes – Systematicc (10) 1987

California Valley San Luis Obispo PV (250) Operational – Oct Private Yesd Yes – Systematice,f Solar Ranch County, 2013 CA

Campo Verde Imperial County, CA PV (139) Operational – Oct Private NA Yes – Incidentalb 2013

Centinela Solar Imperial County, CA PV (170) Operational – August Private Yesg NA Energy 2013

Crescent Dunes Nye County, NV CSP – Power Tower Construction Public Yesh Yes – Systematici (110) completed

Desert Sunlight Desert Center, CA PV (550) Operating and under Public Yesj Yes – Incidentalb construction

Genesis Blythe, CA CSP – Trough (250) 1st Unit Operational – Public Yesk Yes – Incidentalb,l Nov. 2013 2nd Unit Operational – March 2014 Ivanpah Solar San Bernardino CSP – Power Tower Operational – Oct. Public Yesm Yes – Incidentalb,l and Electric Generating County, CA (377) 2013 systematicn System (ISEGS) Technology Known Type and MW Collection of (in Available Avian Avian Fatality Project Name Location Parentheses) Current Status Land Type Monitoring Plan Data Palen Solar Electric Riverside County, CSP – Power Tower Application submitted Public Yeso NA Generating System CA (N/A) (PSEGS) Rice Solar Riverside County, CSP – Power Tower Under development Private Yesp NA CA (150)

Silver State North Primm, NV PV (50) Operational – May Public Yesq NA 2012

Silver State South Primm, NV PV (250) Under construction Public Yesr NA

Topaz Solar Farm Carrizo Plains, CA PV (550) Under construction Private Yess Yes – Systematice

Solar Demonstration Dimona, Israel CSP – Power Tower Operational – 2008 Unknown NA Yest Plant

a NA = not applicable. b Source: USFWS (2014) – U.S. solar facilities with USFWS-issued SPUT permits. c Source: McCrary et al. (1986). d Source: H.T. Harvey & Associates (2011). e Source: WEST (2014). f Source: H.T. Harvey & Associates (2015). gSource: JBR Environmental Consultants, Inc. (2011). h Source: JBR Environmental Consultants, Inc. (2011). i Sources: Personal communication between L. Walston (Argonne National Laboratory) and Rob Howe (SolaReserve). Preliminary avian fatality data have been collected but were not available for this report. j Source: Ironwood Consulting (2010). k Source: Tetra Tech (2011). l Source: Monthly compliance reports submitted to the CEC (2014). See References (Section 7) for complete list of project-specific compliance reports. m Source: Avian & Bat Monitoring and Management Plan - Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System. n Sources: H.T. Harvey & Associates (2014a-c). o Source: Levenstein et al. (2014). p Source: CH2MHILL (2011). q Source: Silver State Solar Power North, LLC (2011). r Source: Ironwood Consulting (2013). s Source: Althouse and Meade, Inc. (2011). t Source: Labinger (2012). S.2 California Solar One (CSO)

Solar One was a pilot solar-thermal project built in the Mojave Desert just east of

Barstow, California. It was the first test of a utility-scale thermal solar power tower plant.

Solar One was designed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Southern California Edison,

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and CEC. It was located in Daggett about 10 mi

(16 km) east of Barstow. The project produced 10 MW of electricity using 1,818 mirrors, each

40 m² (430 ft²) with a total area of 72,650 m² (782,000 ft²). Solar One was completed in 1981 and was operational from 1982 to 1986. No avian monitoring plan for this project is available.

McCrary et al. (1986) collected data on 6 occasions from May 3 to June 8, 1982 (once per week), and on 34 occasions from September 16, 1982, to May 1983. In total, monitoring included approximately 40 visits over the course of a year. A carcass removal study was also performed involving the placement of 19 carcasses of various species within and outside (< 200 m) of the facility. A total of 70 birds of 28 species were found dead. Results of the scavenger experiments indicate that 10 to 30% of carcasses were removed between visits. The estimated mortality rate was 1.9 to 2.2 birds per week.

For California Solar One, we used the following formula to estimate avian fatality

(Shoenfeld 2004):

Where m is the estimated fatality rate calculated for the facility, c is the estimated number of detections observed during the monitoring period, and is the adjustment for bird removal (due to scavengers or other means) and searcher efficiency. is calculated as follows: where t is the average amount of time a carcass remains in the study area; p is an estimate of searcher efficiency (presented as a proportion of carcasses observed compared to a known total, usually determined through carcass persistence trials); and I is the average interval between removal surveys. If project-specific parameters t, p, and I were not provided for a systematic solar-avian study, estimates from systematic survey efforts at wind energy facilities in the southwestern U.S. were used (as cited in the 2013 ISEGS ABPP). Average estimates for t, p, and

I at wind energy facilities in the southwest were 19.45, 0.825, and 3.5, respectively (averaged across large and small birds to get an overall estimate). We calculated the average avian fatality rate (number of bird deaths/MW/year) as a measure of central tendency among all available regional avian fatality studies at utility-scale solar energy facilities. The mean fatality rate was weighted by solar energy capacity. The adjusted mean fatality rate for the study period is

10.24/MW/year.

S.3 California Valley Solar Ranch (CVSR)

The CVSR is a 250-MW PV solar power plant. The CVSR is located on approximately 4,700 acres of private land in eastern San Luis Obispo County and western Kern

County, California. Construction was initiated in November 2011 and operations began in

October 2013.

An annual report was prepared in 2015 that documented seasonal avian monitoring at the

CVSR. The report documented systematic avian monitoring activities at the CVSR from

November 7, 2013, to November 6, 2014 (H.T. Harvey & Associates 2015). During the 2013-

2014 reporting period arrays were surveyed each week at 20% of their total area (except for Arrays 1 and 2, which were surveyed with 100% coverage through the end of December 2013).

A total of 286 avian carcasses were found within project elements (excluding control plots) during the reporting period. Carcass removal trials and searcher efficiency trials were conducted at the CVSR to more accurately estimate the total number of avian fatalities per year.

At CVSR, fatality estimates were determined by running models to account for carcass- persistence and searcher efficiency based on the models with the lowest AICc. Generally, the fatality estimation formula is written as:

F = C/rp,

where the number of fatalities, F, is the quotient of the number of carcasses found, C, over the product of carcasses left unscavenged, r, and the proportion that an observer sees, p (Huso 2010).

This Huso model, the Fatality Estimator, was developed to estimate fatalities primarily for wind energy projects; however, it can be applied to other types of sites, including powerlines and solar projects (Huso 2010). The Fatality Estimator uses the conceptual framework of fatalities, combined with bootstrapping from models of r and p, to calculate variances and confidence intervals for the estimate of total fatalities.

Fatality estimates were calculated separately for known causes of death and unknown causes of death. The adjusted mean fatality rate for the study period in 2013-2014 ranges from 0.5/MW/year for known cause of death and 10.7/MW/year for unknown and known causes of death.

S.4 Ivanpah Solar Electric Generation System (ISEGS)

ISEGS consists of three solar power electrical generating facilities with a combined net capacity of 377 MW. Each facility includes a central power tower, with associated electrical generating equipment, surrounded by a heliostat array that reflects sunlight to a receiver at the top of the tower. In total, there are approximately 170,000 heliostats surrounding the three towers. ISEGS is located on approximately 3,600 acres (1,457 ha) of federal land in

San Bernardino County, CA and was approved by the BLM and the CEC in 2010. Construction was initiated in 2010, and operations began in October 2013.

An annual report was prepared in 2015 documenting seasonal avian monitoring at

ISEGS. The report documented systematic avian monitoring activities at ISEGS from October

29, 2013, to October 20, 2014. During the reporting period, approximately 29.2% of the facility was systematically surveyed. A total of 703 carcasses or injured bird detections occurred during the reporting period. Included were observations of injured birds, intact dead birds, partial birds, and feather spots indicative of avian fatality. Carcass removal trials and searcher efficiency trials were conducted at the CVSR to more accurately estimate the total number of avian fatalities per year. The Huso fatality estimator (Huso 2010) was used to incorporate searcher efficiency and carcass removal trials into an adjusted fatality rate. Fatality estimates were calculated separately for known causes of death and unknown causes of death. The adjusted mean fatality rate for the study period in 2013-2014 ranges from 3.96/MW/year for known cause of death and

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