Hundreds of grazing sheep helping to keep OPG’s Nanticoke Solar facility in trim shape

“The sheep will eat pretty much anything, including weeds, clovers, and even trees, anything edible. But, importantly, they won’t chew through electric wires or stand on the solar panels,” said Armstrong. “Maintaining vegetation in such a large area as this using mechanical means can be quite costly and is hard to keep up. So, we’ve realized a big cost-savings and the sheep have freed up our maintenance employees to do other work at the site.”

One other advantage that sheep have over other tools? They can get right under the solar panels, where vegetation can quickly grow and threaten to penetrate the panels and disrupt their operation.

To source such a large quantity of sheep needed for this operation, Armstrong reached out to local farm, Schuyler Farms Limited, which utilizes sheep for a similar purpose.

Starting in April, the sheep arrive to Nanticoke Solar in converted school buses.

Once unloaded and settled, they begin to chow down, with two large, vigilant dogs following the herd closely, surveying for predators like coyotes.

From April to October, the flock is at work on the site every day, chewing two to four acres at a time before moving to another zone. Workers from the farm ensure the sheep and dogs are hydrated, fed, and healthy.

Once their work is complete for the season, the animals are loaded back onto the buses to return to the farm for the winter.

So far, the program has been a remarkable success, Armstrong said.

“Our immediate neighbours at the site have been very supportive,” he said. “They love it. They don’t mind hearing the sheep or the barking dogs, as long as it’s not listening to tractors all the time tending to the grounds.”

This isn’t the first time OPG’s Renewable Generation division has utilized animals for sustainable site maintenance.

At OPG’s hydroelectric operations in Niagara Falls, dozens of goats have been deployed in recent years to remove more than 35,000 square metres of overgrown vegetation and invasive plant species such as phragmites and buckthorn, avoiding the use of herbicides and potential contamination of the environment.

The unique biodiversity effort was among several initiatives that helped OPG’s Niagara Operations receive Gold certification from the Wildlife Habitat Council in 2022.