Authors: James Robbins (Principal Ecological Modeller); Leïla RAHMANE (Assistant Environment Project Manager)
Earlier this month, Natural Power attended the Conference on Wind Energy and Wildlife Impacts (CWW), in Montpellier, France. This was a large event with over a thousand attendees representing consultancies, ecologists, researchers, developers, and regulators from over fifty countries! We were proud to have a strong presence, with six attendees from our UK, and French teams, and our partners at Echosense in the US. We also presented four talks, and two posters on topics including cumulative collision risk for seabirds, the development of a new ornithology assessment tool, using environmental DNA to monitor fish and invertebrates at offshore windfarms, and both distribution modelling for bats and curtailment options to minimize bat fatalities with windfarms.
With so many attendees, 140 talks, 130 posters, and nine workshops on offer, there was a diverse range of information presented. Below are some of the key themes that some of us in attendance took away from the event.
The importance of (and challenges of) cumulative assessment
As renewable infrastructure expands, assessing ecological impacts across multiple projects becomes increasingly complex. Far-ranging species such as some seabirds have the potential to overlap with dozens, if not hundreds of renewable projects. Numerous cumulative assessment projects were presented, and it appeared that many of the challenges are shared between international audiences. Conferences such as this are a key step in sharing lessons learned and helping to implement improvements moving forward. We had some very interesting conversations with counterparts from the Netherlands who are undertaking cumulative assessments similar to the French BIRDRISK project that we presented.
Photo: presenting OCcAM – a new ornithological assessment tool (https://www.naturalpower.com/uk/insight/occam)
Data sharing and closing the loop
There were many calls for better data accessibility and consistency. This may include difficulties sourcing turbine specifications for modelling, data not being consistently formatted, easy to find, or reproducible, or results largely being only contained within reports so that the uncertainty from project-level assessments is difficult to carry through to larger scale studies. There were several calls for these types of data to be made publicly available, and initiatives currently working to make the wealth of information collected during the lifespan of projects more accessible.
There was a particularly interesting talk by Esther Jones from Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland on closing the loop, and the importance of ensuring that post-construction monitoring data are not only used to monitor potential impacts and validate models, but also to ultimately inform and streamline the consenting process.
Photo: Natural Power team at CWW 2025 – Camille Guillemette, James Robbins, Leïla Rahmane, Roger Rodriguez (EchoSense), Morgane Ferrer
Exciting advances in next-generation technology
Technology has long supported environmental monitoring in offshore wind projects, but at CWW 2025, its role was clearly elevated—both in technical maturity and operational integration. Several sessions showcased the deployment of multi-sensor platforms combining radar, GPS, and thermal imaging to improve species detection and flight path tracking. These systems are currently being tested in offshore environments, with early results showing improved accuracy and breakthrough results. Presentations also highlighted the implementation of automated curtailment protocols, tailored to various species-specific and environmental triggers. These systems have been successfully deployed in several pilot zones, with emerging markets—such as Uzbekistan and Egypt—taking a leading role in operationalizing these technologies at scale. Acoustic monitoring and drone-based habitat mapping were also featured, providing enhanced insights into fish populations, benthic habitats, and a wide range of other biotic components.
These tools are no longer experimental; they are becoming embedded in standard monitoring frameworks, with developers increasingly integrating them into long-term ecological strategies.
It was an inspiring week of collaboration, innovation, and knowledge exchange. Thanks to all who contributed and connected with us!