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Integrating Nature into Egypt's Clean Energy Transition
Egypt's rapid expansion of renewable energy is essential for addressing climate change and achieving sustainable development. At the same time, the country's strategic location along the African–Eurasian Flyway means that wind farms and electricity transmission infrastructure must be carefully planned and managed to safeguard millions of migratory birds that pass through Egypt every year.
Recognizing this challenge, Nature Conservation Egypt (NCE) has established the Renewable Energy and Biodiversity Programme to ensure that Egypt's transition to clean energy is fully aligned with biodiversity conservation. The programme integrates scientific research, field monitoring, policy development, stakeholder engagement, and practical mitigation measures to reduce the impacts of energy infrastructure on wildlife while supporting sustainable economic development.
Our Goal
To mainstream biodiversity conservation into Egypt's renewable energy sector by applying internationally recognized best practices that minimize the impacts of energy infrastructure on wildlife and deliver measurable conservation outcomes.
Our programme works to:
Science Before Action
Since 2018, Nature Conservation Egypt has led one of the country's most comprehensive scientific programmes assessing the impacts of electricity transmission lines on migratory birds.
Over more than three years, NCE conducted weekly field surveys covering over 300 kilometres of high-voltage transmission lines across the Gulf of Suez and South Sinai, one of the world's most important migratory bird flyways. These long-term studies documented bird collision mortality, identified environmental risk factors, and mapped the transmission line sections posing the greatest threat to soaring birds.
The evidence generated through this work established the scientific foundation for Egypt's first large-scale powerline retrofitting programme and positioned NCE as the national technical reference on bird collision risk assessment and mitigation for electricity infrastructure.
From Research to Action
Following years of scientific assessment and close technical coordination with the Ministry of Environment and the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC), NCE implemented Egypt's first large-scale powerline retrofitting programme to reduce bird collisions along one of the country's highest-risk migration corridors.
With support from BirdLife International, approximately 2,300 Bird Flight Diverters (BFDs) were installed along 20 kilometres of the El-Tor–Sharm El-Sheikh transmission line in South Sinai. This represented the first practical application of bird diverter technology on a high-risk transmission line in Egypt and demonstrated the effectiveness of evidence-based mitigation measures.
Subsequent field monitoring confirmed that the installed diverters achieved more than 85% effectiveness in reducing bird collisions under Egyptian environmental conditions, providing strong scientific evidence for expanding this approach nationwide.
Egypt's First Biodiversity Offset for Renewable Energy
Building upon years of scientific research, NCE developed a comprehensive biodiversity offset proposal for the AMUNET Wind Farm, demonstrating how unavoidable residual impacts of renewable energy infrastructure could be compensated through measurable conservation gains.
The proposal was formally adopted by AMUNET Wind Power, leading to the signing of a Grant Agreement for the implementation of Egypt's first Biodiversity Offset project for the renewable energy sector. The initiative represents the country's first practical application of biodiversity offsetting through Powerline Retrofitting, designed to compensate for residual impacts on migratory birds while contributing to the international objective of achieving No Net Loss, and ultimately Net Gain, for biodiversity.
To facilitate implementation, NCE also concluded a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC), establishing the institutional framework required for coordinated implementation.
Delivering Conservation at Scale
As part of the project, NCE successfully procured, imported, and delivered 8,000 internationally certified Bird Flight Diverters (BFDs) for installation on priority transmission lines identified through scientific risk assessments.
Following joint technical inspections with EETC, approximately 15 kilometres of the highest-risk transmission lines were selected for retrofitting, with the Zaafarana transmission line identified as the highest priority, followed by the Red Sea Alliance transmission line.
The first installation phase has now been successfully completed, with approximately 4,000 bird diverters installed to secure both conductors and overhead ground wires along priority sections of the transmission network.
Implementation of the second installation phase is currently underway, bringing the project closer to completing one of the largest bird collision mitigation initiatives ever undertaken in Egypt.
Monitoring Effectiveness
Retrofitting alone is not the end of the process.
NCE continues to conduct systematic monitoring before and after installation during both spring and autumn migration seasons to evaluate the effectiveness of the mitigation measures using standardized scientific methodologies developed by the organization.
The programme combines collision surveys, infrastructure inspections, migration monitoring, and long-term ecological assessment to ensure that conservation interventions deliver measurable biodiversity benefits while providing valuable evidence for future infrastructure planning across Egypt.
National Leadership
Today, Nature Conservation Egypt has become Egypt's leading technical organization in assessing the impacts of electricity transmission infrastructure on migratory birds and developing practical, science-based mitigation solutions.
Through sustained collaboration with government institutions, international organizations, and renewable energy developers, NCE has mobilized investments exceeding EGP 20 million to improve the safety of electricity transmission infrastructure within Egypt's most important bird migration corridors.
The programme demonstrates that renewable energy expansion and biodiversity conservation are not competing objectives. Through sound science, innovation, and collaboration, they can advance together—supporting both Egypt's clean energy ambitions and the protection of one of the world's most important migratory bird flyways.
Check the below video to learn more about this initiative:
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