Energy transition

LANICE project

The project "North Sea wide acceleration of LANding offshore energy while mitigating Impact on the Coastal Environment", LANICE in short, aims to support the achievement of EU renewable energy targets and climate change mitigation objectives while preserving the Wadden Sea World Heritage Site. LANICE aims to provide mitigation schemes to effectively reduce environmental impacts by investigating environmental conflicts and acceleration potentials for transmission grid projects for an environmentally sound energy transition.

The project is in line with and supports the implementation of the Wilhelmshaven Declaration 2023 (paras. 25 and 26) and The SIMP Integrated Management Plan for the ONE Wadden Sea World Heritage 2023 (Key topic Energy). The project is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature (LVVN) and the Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation (TWSC). LANICE is planned to run for two years starting in January 2024. The budget is of €500.000 from LVVN and €85.000 from the TWSC (SB 2023).

 

Activities

 

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Caption

 

 

Five activities are the pillars of the LANICE project:

  1. Review potential environmental impact of grid connections laying, operation, maintenance and decommission on soft coast ecosystems and identify key mitigation action fields.
  2. a) Review state-of-the-art environmental mitigation options throughout project lifecycles and
    b) develop a comprehensive online environmental mitigation toolbox.
  3. Identify environmental conflicts and acceleration potentials for the transmission grid regarding practical planning, permission, implementation, and maintenance across diverse Wadden Sea country procedures and adjacent countries with comparable situation.
  4. Needs assessment of strategic stakeholders regarding environmental aspects of practical planning, permission, implementation, and maintenance on the ground.
  5. Share news and foster exchange with target groups on environmental impact, mitigation strategies, and acceleration potentials.

 

Status

Project Activities 1 and 2a) were finalised in July 2025 with the report “Offshore grid connections and the Wadden Sea: Environmental impacts and key mitigation action fields”. The report was produced by a trilateral consortium of external experts led by the Dutch consultancy Witteveen+Bos and in close cooperation with the ad-hoc Working Group Renewable Energies (WG-RE). The consortium members were Deltares, DHI, Intertek and NIRAS from the Netherlands, UK, Germany, and Denmark respectively.

In the report, environmental impacts and mitigation strategies are presented for cable and pipeline routes in the Wadden Sea, specifically focusing on safeguarding the Wadden Sea World Heritage Site's Outstanding Universal Value. By reviewing scientific literature, project-specific documents, policies, and ecological assessments, complemented by a workshop with stakeholders, key actions and best practices were recommended to prevent damage to the Wadden Sea ecosystem whilst enabling the needed development of renewable energy in the North Sea. 

Key findings of the study:

  • Strengthen trilateral coordination of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) - Align approaches to environmental and heritage impact assessment across the three countries, with explicit and consistent integration of the World Heritage context and Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) considerations.
  • Prioritise avoidance and minimisation through early spatial planning - Optimise routing and timing of cables and pipelines at the earliest planning stages to avoid sensitive habitats and periods, applying the mitigation hierarchy consistently before considering restoration or compensation.
  • Improve monitoring and transparency of environmental effects - Expand and harmonise monitoring during construction, operation, and (where relevant) decommissioning, and ensure results are publicly accessible to better understand actual impacts and the effectiveness of mitigation measures.
  • Develop standardised methods for cumulative impact assessment - Establish shared methodologies for assessing cumulative and cross-border effects, moving beyond single-species assessments towards ecosystem-level understanding and interactions between multiple pressures.
  • Create a shared mitigation and best-practice toolbox - Develop a trilateral catalogue of technical and procedural mitigation measures, lessons learned, and innovative solutions, potentially hosted by the Wadden Sea Secretariat, to support project-specific decision-making.
  • Explore cross-border restoration and compensation mechanisms - Investigate opportunities for pooled and large-scale restoration or compensation measures at the trilateral level, where impacts cannot be fully avoided or minimised.

 

Next steps

In 2026, the project will finalise communication materials aimed at translating the project’s main findings, particularly technical mitigation options, into accessible knowledge for policymakers and other key stakeholders. This will be achieved through a targeted set of infographics.

By mid-2026, the final LANICE project study will be released. This study will specifically address how the three countries within the Trilateral Wadden Sea Cooperation can practically collaborate, share information, and overcome existing bottlenecks. The study will be accompanied by an information tool designed to make mitigation measures easily accessible to practitioners and stakeholders. The project will end in December 2026.