DHI and Silo AI build a computer vision application to protect endangered birds from collision with wind turbines

DHI A/S, a Denmark-based international software development and engineering company, and Silo AI, the largest private AI labs from the Nordics, collaborate to build technology that protects endangered seabirds from collision with wind turbines. DHI’s MUSE system is already globally recognized as a leading solution for bird monitoring in offshore wind farms. Silo AI supports DHI in further developing the application by adding an AI-based species recognition to it. The application alarms the wind turbines when specific endangered bird species fly by which then reduces the speed of the turbine optimizing the protection for birds against collision.

Regulations in many countries require wind farm operators an increased tracking and documentation of bird behavior around wind farms. Previously birds have been tracked by onsite human personnel, and when rare species or large flocks of birds approached, entire offshore wind farms needed to be shut down. MUSE, the multi-sensor bird detection application by DHI, offers developers and operators frequent, high-quality observations based on an integrated setup of radars and cameras. Real-time bird behavior is automatically recorded and displayed online, ensuring regulatory compliance and eliminating the need for onsite staff. Together with DHI, Silo AI built an AI-based species recognition solution that automates the process further and enables speed reduction of the individual turbines the birds are approaching, eliminating the need for  shutting down the entire farm, resulting in more energy and cost-efficient operations.

Henrik Skov, Senior Project Manager at DHI at DHI comments:

"Sustainable development is at the core of DHI's business, and we are proud to bring MUSE AI to the market to accelerate the development of the offshore wind energy that is critical to the green transformation. The cutting-edge AI expertise that Silo AI complemented our existing team with, especially on the computer vision side, was important in making the species recognition with hierarchical classification possible."

AI-based species recognition enables the shutdown of individual wind turbines

DHI and Silo AI built AI functionality for DHI's multi-sensor bird detection application. The computer vision solution enables hierarchical classification of the birds enabling highly accurate recognition of endangered bird species and large flocks of birds. The algorithms calculate the birds' flight routes, prompting an automatic shutdown that can be limited to single turbines. Limiting the shutdowns to only singular turbines helps offshore wind farms optimize their energy consumption, reducing costs and making operations significantly more environmentally friendly, allowing more efficient green energy production.

Silo AI CEO Peter Sarlin says: 

"This collaboration with DHI is highly impactful and well-aligned with our vision and values. Since day one, we've set out to build AI for people, and this collaboration does that and much more. The computer vision solution we've helped DHI build positively impacts sustainable green energy production while protecting endangered species. And not to mention the cutting-edge algorithm we got to build directly into DHI's application making this an excellent example of putting AI at the core of products."

Results: 

• Regulatory compliance
• Better protection of endangered bird species against wing collision
• More energy-efficient green energy production
• Reduced costs by accurate optimization of turbine shutdowns
• Automated operation without the need for onsite staff