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Released August 19, 2024 | SUGAR LAND
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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Enel (Rome, Italy) subsidiary Enel North America is taking steps to eliminate some of the discord between using land for either solar power generation or agricultural purposes. The company last week announced that it is set to deploy 6,000 sheep at eight Texas solar farms using the services of Texas Solar Sheep LLC, a family business providing vegetation management at large solar farms.
The 6,000 sheep will be grazing on a total area of 10,000 acres of solar land, representing the largest agrovoltaics agreement in the U.S. Grass and other vegetation around the solar panels must be kept short to help prevent the risk of fire, and sheep offer some advantages over mowing. Grazing sheep help store more carbon in the ground and enable to spread of native vegetation. Mowing can be noisy, disturbing those living around the solar plant, and can also throw up debris that can potentially damage solar panels. Perhaps more important for a company like Eni is sheep grazing's effect on the bottom line. "This saves us money," Jesse Puckett, who manages sustainability projects at Enel North America, told news media. "It's an efficient way to do this. It's great for the environment, but it also helps our bottom line. And so it's a win-win for us."
Sheep seem to be the ideal animal for this purpose, as cattle would require solar panels be built higher, increasing a facility's overall costs and goats, unlike sheep, will chew through electric wires.
Industrial Info is tracking several Enel solar plant sites in Texas in various stages of planning, construction and operation. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Power Plant Database can click here for a list of Enel's Texas solar sites. Some of the sheep have already arrived at at least one site and are beginning to graze on a rotating schedule, consuming grass from one area of the solar farm before being moved to another area a couple of weeks later.
One of the under-construction plants to which sheep have already been deployed to graze is Enel's Stampede solar plant, which is being built in Hopkins County, Texas. The facility consists of two components, the solar generation site and an accompanying battery energy storage system (BESS). Upon completion, the plant will have more than 250 megawatts (MW) of solar generation capacity and more than 86 MW of storage capacity. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can learn more by viewing the reports on the solar and BESS portions of the project.
Another Enel solar-plus-storage facility is going up near Cooper in northeastern Texas, about 80 miles northeast of Dallas and about 45 miles from the Oklahoma border. Construction on what is known as the Estonian solar farm began in 2022 and upon completion, the plant will employ panels manufactured by First Solar Incorporated (NASDAQ:FSLR) (Tempe, Arizona) to provide more than 200 MW of solar generation. The BESS portion of the project will have 102.5 MW of power available in times when the sun isn't shining. Engineering, procurement and construction contractor Primoris Services Corporation (Dallas, Texas) is expected to wrap up construction on the project toward the end of this year. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the related project reports.
While Enel North America has employed a lot of solar power in Texas, there's much more to the company. Industrial Info is tracking more than $17.4 billion of active Enel projects in the U.S., although only about $7.3 billion worth of them have been deemed by Industrial Info as having a medium or high (70-99%) probability of being constructed as planned. In addition to solar, these other projects include windfarms. Within the coming months, Enel is expected to kick off construction of the Cedar Run Windfarm in Lincoln and Creek counties, Oklahoma. The facility will use 50 turbines, each rated at 3 MW, to provide aggregate generation of 150 MW. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the project report.
As with current trends in the U.S. power sector, the majority of Enel's active U.S. projects are for solar power. While Texas easily garners the company's largest share of solar investment, Industrial Info is tracking active Enel solar projects in 10 other states. Later this year, the company is expected to launch construction of the Raleigh Solar Farm in Raleigh County, West Virginia. The plant is expected to employ approximately 250,000 solar panels on a single-axis tracking system to provide 90 MW of emissions-free generation when completed next year. Subscribers can click here to learn more about the project.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Database can click here to view reports for all of the projects discussed in this article and click here for the related plant profiles.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
The 6,000 sheep will be grazing on a total area of 10,000 acres of solar land, representing the largest agrovoltaics agreement in the U.S. Grass and other vegetation around the solar panels must be kept short to help prevent the risk of fire, and sheep offer some advantages over mowing. Grazing sheep help store more carbon in the ground and enable to spread of native vegetation. Mowing can be noisy, disturbing those living around the solar plant, and can also throw up debris that can potentially damage solar panels. Perhaps more important for a company like Eni is sheep grazing's effect on the bottom line. "This saves us money," Jesse Puckett, who manages sustainability projects at Enel North America, told news media. "It's an efficient way to do this. It's great for the environment, but it also helps our bottom line. And so it's a win-win for us."
Sheep seem to be the ideal animal for this purpose, as cattle would require solar panels be built higher, increasing a facility's overall costs and goats, unlike sheep, will chew through electric wires.
Industrial Info is tracking several Enel solar plant sites in Texas in various stages of planning, construction and operation. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Power Plant Database can click here for a list of Enel's Texas solar sites. Some of the sheep have already arrived at at least one site and are beginning to graze on a rotating schedule, consuming grass from one area of the solar farm before being moved to another area a couple of weeks later.
One of the under-construction plants to which sheep have already been deployed to graze is Enel's Stampede solar plant, which is being built in Hopkins County, Texas. The facility consists of two components, the solar generation site and an accompanying battery energy storage system (BESS). Upon completion, the plant will have more than 250 megawatts (MW) of solar generation capacity and more than 86 MW of storage capacity. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can learn more by viewing the reports on the solar and BESS portions of the project.
Another Enel solar-plus-storage facility is going up near Cooper in northeastern Texas, about 80 miles northeast of Dallas and about 45 miles from the Oklahoma border. Construction on what is known as the Estonian solar farm began in 2022 and upon completion, the plant will employ panels manufactured by First Solar Incorporated (NASDAQ:FSLR) (Tempe, Arizona) to provide more than 200 MW of solar generation. The BESS portion of the project will have 102.5 MW of power available in times when the sun isn't shining. Engineering, procurement and construction contractor Primoris Services Corporation (Dallas, Texas) is expected to wrap up construction on the project toward the end of this year. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the related project reports.
While Enel North America has employed a lot of solar power in Texas, there's much more to the company. Industrial Info is tracking more than $17.4 billion of active Enel projects in the U.S., although only about $7.3 billion worth of them have been deemed by Industrial Info as having a medium or high (70-99%) probability of being constructed as planned. In addition to solar, these other projects include windfarms. Within the coming months, Enel is expected to kick off construction of the Cedar Run Windfarm in Lincoln and Creek counties, Oklahoma. The facility will use 50 turbines, each rated at 3 MW, to provide aggregate generation of 150 MW. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the project report.
As with current trends in the U.S. power sector, the majority of Enel's active U.S. projects are for solar power. While Texas easily garners the company's largest share of solar investment, Industrial Info is tracking active Enel solar projects in 10 other states. Later this year, the company is expected to launch construction of the Raleigh Solar Farm in Raleigh County, West Virginia. The plant is expected to employ approximately 250,000 solar panels on a single-axis tracking system to provide 90 MW of emissions-free generation when completed next year. Subscribers can click here to learn more about the project.
Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Database can click here to view reports for all of the projects discussed in this article and click here for the related plant profiles.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
