Tilting at windmills

Bjørnar Olsen is a worried man. He is head of information for the second largest renewable energy producer in Europe and he is watching his company's multi-billion pound investments come under attack.

"We are willing to do whatever it takes," he says.

The windmills built by Norwegian power company Statkraft are not facing protests from energy lobbyists, government officials or disgruntled citizens. The 92 wind turbines on two islands in central Norway have instead attracted the unwelcome attention of sea eagles.

The huge birds of prey apparently see the nine-tonne blades of a modern windmill as competition and are likely to challenge the turbines to a fight. The eagles have so far not been discouraged by the fact that they always lose.

"We are trying to find a solution," says Olsen. "We've closed down some turbines to avoid hitting flight routes, but nine eagles have been killed."

The quixotic brown and white eagles pose a public relations nightmare for Statkraft. The company's bid to paint wind as the environmentally appealing alternative to traditional energy sources is suffering from the accidental slaughter of a bird which was, until recently, on the verge of extinction.

Olsen says numbers were up following a successful reintroduction programme, perhaps making each bird death less critical. But given Statkraft's plans to increase wind power generation twenty-fold by 2010, unless the sea eagles change their habits soon they may not survive an increase in green energy generation.

Possible solutions being investigated by Statkraft include radar signals or discouraging colours. As sea eagles and wind farms both become an increasingly common sight in other parts of

Europe, notably Scotland, the race is on to stop birds tilting at windmills.

Bjørnar Olsen is a worried man. He is head of information for the second largest renewable energy producer in Europe and he is watching his company's multi-billion pound investments come under attack.