New Agreement to See Thousands of Sheep Grazing at Solar Farms
A new partnership between vegetation-management company Texas Solar Sheep and energy company Enel North America will see thousands of sheep graze at a massive solar farm to help maintain the fast-growing grass at 4,100 acres’ worth of solar land. Texas Solar Sheep will deploy more than 6,000 sheep to graze at eight Texas-based solar plants, providing Enel North America with a sustainable means of controlling the vegetation at its solar-energy plants.
The recent partnership with Texas Solar Sheep is part of Enel North America’s efforts to boost the adoption of sustainable practices in the burgeoning renewables industry. Texas Solar Sheep is part of a swiftly growing sector that offers vegetation-management services at large solar-energy facilities. Using sheep to maintain the grass on solar farms reduces fire risks, lowers costs, and is beneficial for the soil and the ecosystems it supports.
According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), grazing solar land makes water use more efficient, lowers operation and maintenance costs, improves soil health and preserves native habitats. As a result, a whopping 45,500 hectares’ worth of solar land in the country is also serving as grazing land, allowing solar companies to manage their facilities sustainably and cost effectively.
With the United States poised to dedicate even more land to generating solar energy as it chases carbon neutrality, using sheep to graze solar land could become a common practice. Longer grass and vegetation are much more likely to catch fire, so solar farms usually invest in regular maintenance to reduce fire risks, presumably spending more the larger the solar farms are.
Enel North America’s announcement noted that the contract with Texas Solar Sheep is one of the most significant solar-grazing agreements in the country and reinforced its commitment to combining agricultural practices with solar-energy generation (agrivoltaics). Solar grazing will most likely play a major role in the nascent agrisolar industry as America’s renewables capacity increases over the next several decades.
While more solar-industry players are now seeking long-term partnerships with local farmers, Enel North America’s agreement with Texas Solar Sheep is an industry first in its scale. The energy company’s head of external relations and sustainability, Marcus Krembs, says the “record-breaking” partnership represents the first step toward the widespread adoption of sustainable agrivoltaics. Krembs noted that Enel North America is showing how both agriculture and solar energy can coexist without affecting the effectiveness of its solar plants.
As enterprises such as Reflex Advanced Materials Corp. (CSE: RFLX) (OTCQB: RFLXF) continue to work toward availing abundant supplies of the critical minerals needed to power the green transition, many more innovations are likely to come up addressing ways to optimize sustainable land use in the places clean energy installations exist or are planned.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Reflex Advanced Materials Corp. (CSE: RFLX) (OTCQB: RFLXF) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/RFLXF
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the GreenEnergyStocks website applicable to all content provided by GES, wherever published or re-published: https://www.greennrgstocks.com/Disclaimer
A new partnership between vegetation-management company Texas Solar Sheep and energy company Enel North America will see thousands of sheep graze at a massive solar farm to help maintain the fast-growing grass at 4,100 acres’ worth of solar land. Texas Solar Sheep will deploy more than 6,000 sheep to graze at eight Texas-based solar plants, providing Enel North America with a sustainable means of controlling the vegetation at its solar-energy plants.
The recent partnership with Texas Solar Sheep is part of Enel North America’s efforts to boost the adoption of sustainable practices in the burgeoning renewables industry. Texas Solar Sheep is part of a swiftly growing sector that offers vegetation-management services at large solar-energy facilities. Using sheep to maintain the grass on solar farms reduces fire risks, lowers costs, and is beneficial for the soil and the ecosystems it supports.
According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), grazing solar land makes water use more efficient, lowers operation and maintenance costs, improves soil health and preserves native habitats. As a result, a whopping 45,500 hectares’ worth of solar land in the country is also serving as grazing land, allowing solar companies to manage their facilities sustainably and cost effectively.
With the United States poised to dedicate even more land to generating solar energy as it chases carbon neutrality, using sheep to graze solar land could become a common practice. Longer grass and vegetation are much more likely to catch fire, so solar farms usually invest in regular maintenance to reduce fire risks, presumably spending more the larger the solar farms are.
Enel North America’s announcement noted that the contract with Texas Solar Sheep is one of the most significant solar-grazing agreements in the country and reinforced its commitment to combining agricultural practices with solar-energy generation (agrivoltaics). Solar grazing will most likely play a major role in the nascent agrisolar industry as America’s renewables capacity increases over the next several decades.
While more solar-industry players are now seeking long-term partnerships with local farmers, Enel North America’s agreement with Texas Solar Sheep is an industry first in its scale. The energy company’s head of external relations and sustainability, Marcus Krembs, says the “record-breaking” partnership represents the first step toward the widespread adoption of sustainable agrivoltaics. Krembs noted that Enel North America is showing how both agriculture and solar energy can coexist without affecting the effectiveness of its solar plants.
As enterprises such as Reflex Advanced Materials Corp. (CSE: RFLX) (OTCQB: RFLXF) continue to work toward availing abundant supplies of the critical minerals needed to power the green transition, many more innovations are likely to come up addressing ways to optimize sustainable land use in the places clean energy installations exist or are planned.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Reflex Advanced Materials Corp. (CSE: RFLX) (OTCQB: RFLXF) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/RFLXF
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the GreenEnergyStocks website applicable to all content provided by GES, wherever published or re-published: https://www.greennrgstocks.com/Disclaimer
