Grid expansion for the energy transition can happen only if the negative impacts on the natural environment are minimised and potential positive synergies harnessed. RGI is therefore committed to better understanding the potential impacts that power lines have on the environment and to developing and promoting solutions which can reduce this impact.

We have been working together with our NGO and TSO Members and partners over the past decade on diverse collaborative projects to set environmental guidelines for grid development and to champion the implementation of best practice approaches. Below you can find highlights from all of our work, including:

• European Grid Declaration on Electricity Network Development and Nature Conservation, signed in 2011 by 29 NGOs and TSOs pledging to work together towards the development of an environmentally-sound electricity grid.
• Collaboration with British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) to promote clarity and openness of data concerning bird collisions with overhead power lines.
• Our work on Green Corridors, which manage the vegetation under lines to enhance the ecological value of an area, together with consultancy Ecofirst.