Bright reports positive signs in sheep grazing pilot

Renewables developer Bright Energy Investments has reported positive signs after launching a sheep grazing trial to replace mechanical methods of maintaining vegetation growth at the 40 MW Greenough River Solar Farm in Western Australia’s mid-west.

October 3, 2022 David Carroll

Bright Energy is researching the benefits of running sheep at its 40 MW Greenough River Solar Farm in WA.

Image: BEI

The first grid-scale solar plant in Australia when it was commissioned in late 2012, the Greenough River Solar Farm is now the site of an agrisolar trial with Bright Energy Investments (BEI) introducing a flock of about 200 dorper sheep to help manage vegetation on site.

BEI said the sheep have been introduced to explore the ways grazing can replace mechanical methods to maintain vegetation growth on the south block of the solar farm near Geraldton in the state’s mid-west.

BEI general manager Tom Frood said the company is trialling the technique in the hope of maximising the environmental and safety benefits at the 244-hectare facility and the decision to locate sheep onsite has already shown promising early signs.

“Sheep grazing is a natural way to manage vegetation growth, enabling the area to be productive agricultural land, minimising risk to solar equipment caused by vehicle mowing and reducing bushfire risk by keeping fuel loads consistently low,” he said.

The Greenough River trial is not the first time sheep have been co-located with renewable energy sites in Australia with more than a dozen solar farms exploring the potential of the concept. And while it provides free lawn mowing and reduces the site’s fire risk, the benefits also extend to the graziers.

Greenough River was the first utility scale solar farm in Australia when the 10 MW first stage, seen here flanked by the stage two arrays, was commissioned in 2012.
Image: BEI

BEI pointed to a project in the New South Wales’s Central West where farmers running sheep on solar farms reported improved quantities and quality of wool production.

The farmers reported the shade and condensation run off from the panels can increase grass compared to surrounding paddocks, a finding that aligns with research suggesting solar panel microclimates can increase water retention, and grass production.

Researchers in the United States have found that the partial shade offered by solar panels creates a microclimate that reduces evaporation and significantly boosts the production of vegetation in arid climates.

Researchers at Oregon State’s College of Agricultural Sciences found that areas that were partially or fully covered by solar panels increased their biomass production by 90%.

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