Authors: Kassara, Christina; Tampouratzi, Lydia;Gotsis, Dimitris;Tzortzakaki, Olga;Petridou, Maria;Psaralexi, Maria;Sidiropoulos, Lavrentis;Vasilakis, Dimitris;Galani, Antonia;Mpoukas, Nikos;

Renewable Energy Sources (RES) are listed high in the EU and national environmental policy agendas, embracing ambitious climate goals, though on a tight schedule, for the upcoming years. However, a rapid expansion of RES without adequate spatial planning could jeopardize biodiversity conservation efforts and consequently undermine climate change mitigation actions. In this study, we focus on wind energy in a biodiversity hotspot, namely Greece, where the investment interest exceeds sixfold the 2030 national target, while existing legislation and the current spatial RES planning framework allow windfarm development even within the Natura 2000 network. At a national scale, we showed that by excluding windfarm installation from Natura 2000 sites and areas of low fragmentation the 2030 national target can be met without compromising biodiversity conservation. Moreover, with a current threefold higher land take per unit of power compared to generic estimates, we found that windfarms consume more land as their size increases and when installed at areas without other infrastructures and/or with more rugged topography. Therefore, such areas should not be opted for sitting windfarms at a local scale. If incorporated in spatial RES planning, our results could minimize the ecological footprint of windfarms, while meeting both climate and biodiversity goals.