Balancing the production of low-emission energies with its impacts on biodiversity at RWE Offshore

The catastrophic effects of climate change have been widely recognised by science and the international community, and a swift transition from traditional energy sources to renewables is in the agenda of many countries around the world to take action and reduce emissions. Offshore wind has been seen as one of the best options for producing clean energy, and a rapid build-out has taken place in the North Sea in the past few years. The expansion of the footprint of the offshore infrastructures has however increased the interactions of offshore wind with the natural marine environment and its biodiversity. There are a lot of gaps in knowledge to understand the real magnitude of the positive and negative impacts that offshore wind farms have, but industry is committed to take action in order to preserve biodiversity with mitigation and restoration initiatives. RWE, the second largest player in the world (excluding China) for offshore wind, has a portfolio of actions to avoid and reduce impacts, exploring new monitoring options and pioneer offshore restoration.