Meet the sheep doing their bit to help power homes!
July 25, 2023
You probably haven’t heard of Westlands Solar Park (WSP), in Kings County, California. But it’s one of the more ambitious environmental initiatives TelstraSuper has invested in – and it will soon be making a huge positive impact on the environment.
WSP is a large-scale solar power project. In fact, it’s one of the largest permitted solar parks in the United States. WSP repurposes more than 20,000 acres of selenium-contaminated and drainage-impaired farmland for the development of clean energy.
WSP hasn’t totally turned its back on farm animals, however. An important aspect of the WSP is sheep! That’s right, WSP started grazing sheep in March 2022 and currently has 3,000 sheep onsite. The grazing sheep help keep the grass around the solar panels short, eliminating the need to mow the grass. The panels drip condensed water onto the ground each night creating enough moisture to make lush green grass and provide shelter for the sheep.
This project – "Sheep Providing Dual Purpose Payback" – recently won an award for Best Environmental Practice.
As well as providing a home for sheep, once it’s complete WSP will have the potential to provide clean energy to more than 1,200,000 homes at full buildout. That makes WSP pretty ewe-nique!
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