New alliance to boost offshore wind and protect biodiversity in the Mediterranean

The Offshore Coalition for Energy and Nature – Mediterranean Sea (Med OCEaN) has been launched to drive the sustainable deployment of offshore wind and grid infrastructure while safeguarding marine ecosystems.

The Coalition will bring together NGOs, the wind industry and transmission system operators (TSOs) from across the Mediterranean basin and adjacent Atlantic waters.

The Renewables Grid Initiative (RGI) will act as convener and moderator of the group, which now consists of over 15 founding members who have signed a Memorandum of Understanding.

The MoU recognises that offshore wind in the Mediterranean Seas basin and the adjacent Atlantic waters is still at an early stage and advancing development will require complex interactions with different stakeholders.

The area is also considered a biodiversity hotspot and therefore requires protection.

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To this end, the Med OCEaN will support integrated planning of offshore wind energy and nature in Maritime Spatial Plans and will strive to fill knowledge gaps, monitor developments as well as impacts and efficacy of biodiversity measures applied to the offshore wind sector and grid infrastructure, and investigate innovative solutions.

Giles Dickson, CEO at WindEurope: “Now that offshore wind is about to start in the Mediterranean region it makes sense for OCEaN to launch Med OCEaN. It will help keep the marine ecosystems in Europe’s southern seas healthy and productive. The energy transition and nature protection go hand in hand.”

Nailia Dindarova, vice president of market development at BlueFloat Energy added: "...we celebrate the creation of Med OCEaN as we believe the coalition will play a crucial role in aligning TSO’s, environmental NGO’s, industry representatives, and developers on the European path towards carbon neutrality.”