The country's first coastal wind farm could feature a 6,000-meter-long "gate" to stop migratory birds meeting a sticky end on turbine blades.

 

The planned site of the wind farm, near Donghai Bridge, sits in the flight path of some of the millions of migratory birds that pass Shanghai each year, and "raises the possibility of killing and injuring" them, said Li Jianying, an official with the Shanghai Investigation Design & Research Institute.

 

The institute is one of the planners of the wind farm.

 

The blades for turbines in coastal wind farms can be up to 20 meters in length.

 

The institute said it was considering a 6,000-meter-long strip free of windmills to decrease bird casualties.

 

The farm is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2009 and will generate power from wind sources covering nearly 40 square kilometers in the East China Sea, according to the institute.

 

Four companies won the bid to build the plant last December, approved by the national authorities.

 

Millions of wild birds stop by Shanghai's 500-meter-long coastal wetlands on their migratory journeys, according to the city's bird experts.

 

(Shanghai Daily January 18, 2007)