The Port of Barcelona has taken a new step in its sustainability strategy with the installation of the first structures of the RegenPorts program, an initiative promoted by the BCN Port Innovation Foundation that seeks to integrate marine regeneration into port activity.
The project starts from a simple idea, but one that has been unusual until now in the port sector: that ports are not only infrastructures dedicated to transport and logistics, but also spaces capable of actively contributing to the recovery of marine ecosystems. The initiative aims to demonstrate that economic activity and environmental regeneration can advance in parallel.
The first technology deployed are the Life Boosting Units (LBU), developed by the Barcelona-based company Ocean Ecostructures. These are biomimetic structures that are fixed to docks and breakwaters and reproduce the conditions of natural reefs, creating refuges for fish, mollusks, crustaceans, and other marine species. According to tests carried out so far, these solutions significantly increase marine biodiversity and improve the ecological quality of port environments.
With this new phase, the Port of Barcelona will reach close to 100 units installed, after several years of pilot tests. Between 2023 and 2025, dozens of structures had already been placed at different points in the port area to evaluate their behavior and measure their environmental impact.
One of the differentiating elements of RegenPorts is that it is not limited to installing technology. The program is developing an integral model that includes operational protocols, scientific validation systems, and specific insurance mechanisms to facilitate that companies and concessionaires can participate in marine regeneration projects without interfering with the daily operation of the port. The objective is to create a replicable model that can be extended to other ports in the Mediterranean and other parts of the world.
The initiative was born in 2024 from the hand of the BCN Port Innovation Foundation, the Nactiva platform, and Ocean Ecostructures, and since then it has evolved from an experimental phase to a real implementation model. The program has been presented at international forums linked to marine biodiversity and the blue economy and has received several recognitions for its innovative nature.
During the installation presentation, the president of the Port of Barcelona and of the BCN Port Innovation Foundation, José Alberto Carbonell, argued that ports must be able to reconcile economic growth with the recovery of the marine environment. As he highlighted, RegenPorts has been conceived in Barcelona, but with the aim of becoming a tool exportable to other port facilities.
The initiative is part of Barcelona's commitment to the blue economy, an area that the city wants to consolidate as one of its growth engines over the next decade. In this context, projects like RegenPorts seek to position environmental and technological innovation as a new vector of competitiveness for maritime infrastructures.
The program's first major installation also comes just days after the celebration of Oceans Week and coinciding with the third anniversary of the BCN Port Innovation Foundation. A project that aims to demonstrate that biodiversity recovery can be part of a port's daily life without renouncing its economic activity.