Dual-Use Solar Creates Joint Success

23/02/2023

Sheep and solar are a winning combination at Numurkah Solar Farm in Victoria, where the livestock work as living lawnmowers.

Around 2000 sheep currently make the 1200-acre solar farm their home, as part of a sustainable agrisolar program that has been running since the farm began operating in mid-2019.

Downer designed, built, and now maintains the Neoen-owned and operated Numurkah Solar Farm, which has the capacity to produce over 255,500 Megawatt hours of renewable electricity a year – enough to power 51,000 homes.

Agrisolar refers to the co-use of land for agricultural purposes and solar power generation and is gaining popularity in Australia and around the world. 

At Numurkah the sheep work as living lawnmowers, grazing underneath the solar panels to manage the height of the vegetation. 

It’s a sustainable solution for both the solar farm and local community, providing zero-fee grazing for farmers, while also reducing machine operation and purchasing costs for the farm, and managing the fire risk from overgrown vegetation. Without the sheep, it can take up to seven weeks to mow 1200 acres of the solar farm

Combining solar with agriculture in the form of sheep grazing is a great ‘win-win’ approach for solar farms, bringing a range of valuable benefits for both farmers and the solar plant. 

And the project is gaining broader recognition across government and industry. Paul O’Bryan, Site Manager – Numurkah Solar Farm recently attended and spoke at the Agriculture Victoria Agrivoltaic Research and Innovation Conference to share Downer’s learnings from the project.

“Agrisolar is just one way we are working collaboratively with our customers to develop and deliver sustainable solutions across the energy sector,” says Paul.

“Overall, the conference was enlightening, it was great to see the outcomes of Neoen and Downer’s collaboration with AgVic’s onsite research and the fruits of that research. I think that the science these folks are putting into it now will certainly pay dividends in the future.”

The agrisolar project at Numurkah is a key example of both Neoen and Downer’s commitment to sustainability and the energy transition.