Biodiversity review on PV pre-construction portfolio
Published January 2022
Everoze was delighted to provide a first biodiversity review for a pre-construction PV portfolio in Northern Europe. The biodiversity impact analysis focused on two aspects of the portfolio, notably design and O&M. These two were assessed holistically with a mix of technical, economic and environmental expertise and was included into the standard technical Due Diligence procedure. The Client was able to use the results to improve its already advanced approach in this field for sustainability.
The analysis was based amongst others on the planning documents, O&M and Asset Management contracts, as well as layouts. The work was based on local and international scientific references relevant to PV parks and biodiversity, biodiversity industry benchmarks, in-house benchmarks and Everoze’s Biodiversity Management Decision Support Tool.
As part of the scope Everoze assessed the planned biodiversity measures of the portfolio, compared it to market practice and benchmarks, as well as provided recommendations to improve biodiversity impact. High-level comments around cost impact and ease of implementation of the measures were given where appropriate.
The following aspects were covered:
- Design: Ground coverage, panel height, cabling, surfaces, water and drainage, fencing, landscaping, habitat enhancement
- Asset O&M: vegetation management, use of pesticides/herbicides, cleaning practice, monitoring, reporting
Everoze’s work was led by Ellie van der Heijden supported by a broader project team including Ragna Schmidt-Haupt and Adam Sharpe.
