WIMBY won the RGI Grid Award for communication and engagement

We are glad to share with you that WIMBY has been named the winner of the RGI Grid Award for Good Practice of the Year 2025 in the Communication & Engagement category. The winners were announced during the RGI Grid Awards ceremony in Brussels on December 2, 2025 hosted by the European Commission at the 6th PCI Energy Days.

WIMBY was developed to enable transparent, inclusive, and science-based planning of wind energy projects across Europe.

During its three years of activity, the project worked on the development of a suite of interactive, open-source tools able to help to bridge the gap between expert knowledge and public perception, fostering acceptance and reducing conflict in the energy transition.

The WIMBY toolkit includes:

• A webGIS map & online discussion forum: these tools allow for the planning of wind farms at any location in 28 European countries. Users can collaboratively explore potential wind farm locations, assess multiple societal and environmental impacts, optimize the location of individual turbines, and discuss projects in a dedicated forum.

• An immersive 3D platform: this virtual environment transforms complex energy data into interactive experiences, allowing people to “see and feel” potential wind farms in realistic landscapes. The platform facilitates structured dialogue among residents, developers, and public authorities, creating a shared evidence base and building trust. This 3D platform received unanimously positive feedback from participants, including wind energy sceptics.

Advancing the Energy Transition

WIMBY directly responds to growing social, technical, and environmental challenges where local opposition and fragmented data can delay renewable deployment. By combining geospatial, environmental, and social datasets, WIMBY visualizes where wind energy can be installed sustainably, allowing users to explore scenarios that reflect both technical constraints and social preferences.

The tools were successfully co-created and tested in over 20 workshops across Italy, Austria, Portugal, and Norway, with stakeholders including local governments, NGOs, universities, and energy companies. The results demonstrate that WIMBY leads to more informed, democratic, and locally accepted decisions.

As an open-source design, the project is highly scalable and transferable across Europe, providing a free resource for both education and professional use, and advancing a just and inclusive energy transition.

Recognising Innovation at PCI Energy Days

The RGI Grid Awards, hosted at the 6th PCI Energy Days in Brussels, recognise and promote practices that display extraordinary dedication and ingenuity in grid development. The 2025 edition of the PCI Energy Days is dedicated to the practical implementation of Projects of Common Interest and Projects of Mutual Interest, with attendees including EU country administrations, regulators, grid operators, and civil society.

The event featured opening remarks by the Director-General for Energy, Ditte Juul Jørgensen, and a High-Level Panel on “Connecting the Dots: Grid Planning, Flexibility and Innovation for a Sustainable EU Energy System.” The official tour of the PCI garden was joined by the Commissioner for Energy and Housing, Mr. Dan Jørgensen, and the Danish Minister for Climate, Energy and Utilities, Mr. Lars Aagaard.

Congratulations to all the RGI Grid Award winners and participants for their exemplary work in accelerating the clean energy future for Europe!