To meet Europe’s 2030 and 2050 climate targets, the deployment of offshore energy infrastructure will need to be accelerated in the coming years. While this expansion will impact the marine environment, it also represents an opportunity to enhance biodiversity and restore degraded ecosystems.

One way to achieve this is by integrating innovative solutions such as Nature-Inclusive Design (NID) alongside offshore renewable energy infrastructure. NIDs are measures integrated in or added to the design of infrastructure which attempt to minimise risks and increase ecological opportunities by providing direct and indirect positive effects on biodiversity. Current NID efforts largely focus on the underwater environment, with limited attention to above water species, such as birds.

In this context, the Renewables Grid Initiative launched a webinar series in 2022 with the Offshore Coalition for Energy and Nature (OCEaN), focused on Nature-Inclusive Design applied in offshore energy and grid infrastructure.

The fifth webinar in this series explored the actions of the new LIFE project, NID4BirdLIFE. This European-funded project seeks to advance the conceptualisation, testing, and implementation of NID solutions for birds at the Princess Elisabeth Energy Island, with a focus on the Black-legged Kittiwake.

We heard the experts working on the project:

• Manon Thiel, Manager Energy & Nature at RGI
• Riet Durinck, Offshore Community Relations Officer at Elia
• Robin Brabant, Marine biologist at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences
• Robin Daelemans, Researcher at Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)

We are also proud to share that this webinar was part of the European Commission's Sustainable Energy Days, which feature events and activities held globally to promote clean energy and energy efficiency. These events provide a platform for individuals, organisations, and communities to inspire behavioural change and accelerate innovation towards achieving the EU’s energy and climate goals. With the current global focus on energy transition and energy independence, Sustainable Energy Days play a key role in fostering sustainable energy solutions in the EU and around the world.