Ørsted and Spoor partner on bird monitoring campaign at Borssele offshore wind farm

Ørsted and Spoor have launched an AI bird-monitoring trial at Borssele 1&2 offshore wind farm in the Netherlands. Three high-resolution cameras have been installed at two turbines to perform continuous daytime bird monitoring at unprecedented long distances. This trial aims to accelerate the development of Spoor’s cutting-edge monitoring technology.

Spoor has already demonstrated that its software performs successfully at relatively long distances and under challenging environmental conditions, but the Borssele test will push the current operational boundaries. As turbines grow in size and the distances between them increase, effective bird monitoring depends on technology capable of capturing high-quality data and images over extensive ranges. In this project, Spoor is pioneering bird monitoring from a distance of 1.9 km, expanding the capabilities of AI-driven monitoring in offshore environments.

Monitoring birds offshore and detecting collisions remains notoriously challenging. As a result, the offshore wind industry relies on precautionary models to estimate potential bird collisions during wind farm design. Spoor’s system can collect evidence of avoidance behaviour and actual collisions, improving these models and providing greater certainty about the true impact of offshore wind farms on bird populations. Data collection at Borssele is planned to continue for at least one year to account for seasonal variations in bird activity. This trial forms part of Ørsted’s commitment to support the development and testing of Spoor’s innovative technology, especially as Spoor is a portfolio company of Ørsted.

“This project demonstrates our dedication to partner with innovative start-up companies and developing knowledge and technologies that reduce costs and risks, while enhancing sustainability. Spoor's technology will improve our understanding of bird behaviour in and around offshore wind farms, which is crucial for the sustainable build-out of green energy”, Emma Hospes, Head of Environment and Permitting at Ørsted.

Ask Helseth, CEO of Spoor, said: “Collaborating with Ørsted at Borssele 1&2 is a unique opportunity for Spoor to advance and refine our technology at one of the world’s leading offshore wind farms. This project is a pivotal step in delivering actionable insights to support biodiversity and offshore wind coexistence”.

A unique advantage of Spoor’s system, compared to alternatives like high-specification cameras combined with radars and human observers, is its AI technology’s ability to accurately identify and track individual birds. By using off-the-shelf camera hardware, Spoor reduces system costs and complexity, unlike radar systems, which can be prohibitively expensive. High-resolution video data also enables retrospective verification of bird activity, species, and collisions near rotors, which radar cannot provide. Spoor’s software outputs include data such as average bird numbers over time, flight height distribution, and species identification, verified by trained human ornithologists.

By further collaborating with Spoor, Ørsted will gain valuable insights into how different bird species behave around offshore wind farms. With a better understanding of avoidance behaviour and collision risk, more effective mitigation measures can be developed. Ultimately, this supports Ørsted’s commitment to achieving a net-positive biodiversity impact across all renewable energy projects by 2030.