Andover, Mass., June 10, 2025 – Enel North America has been named a honoree of Fast Company’s 2025 World Changing Ideas Awards for its large-scale solar sheep grazing agreement. In 2024, Enel signed the largest solar grazing contract announced to date in the United States. The contract with Texas Solar Sheep, LLC, a family-owned small business in Texas, provides sheep grazing services for vegetation management at eight utility-scale solar plants in Texas. 

 “Solar grazing isn’t a pilot project for us—it’s how we maintain vegetation at most of our solar fleet, day in and day out, in a sustainable, cost-effective way,” said Stephen Pike, head of Enel Green Power North America. “Elevating solar grazing to enterprise scale, and supporting local farmers and ranchers along the way, was a forward-thinking initiative we were proud to take on. With a growing herd, thriving local partners, and ecological benefits ranging from soil quality to pollinators, the positive results speak for themselves.”

This year’s awards, featured on fastcompany.com, showcase 50 winners across 12 categories and 50 additional winners across industries, for a total of 100 outstanding projects. A panel of Fast Company editors and reporters selected the winners from a pool of more than 1,500 entries and judged applications based on their impact, sustainability, design, creativity, scalability, and ability to improve society. 

Texas Solar Sheep has deployed over 8,000 sheep to graze on more than 12,600 acres of solar land, nearly 75% of the area of Manhattan. By embracing sheep grazing to manage vegetation, Enel has reinforced its commitment to "agrivoltaics," the practice of combining solar power generation with agricultural practices. This agreement also strengthened the company’s presence in the Texas market, where Enel is one of the largest operators of clean power and battery storage capacity.

According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the combined benefits of preserving native habitats and grazing livestock at solar installations include improved soil health, enabling more efficient use of water, and reduced operations and maintenance costs. By improving operational efficiencies and supporting sustainable land management practices, this approach reinforces positive financial and environmental sustainability  of Enel’s solar power production and fosters shared value with neighboring communities and across the American sheep livestock value chain.

In 2017, Enel piloted solar grazing at its Aurora solar farm in Minnesota. Since 2020, Enel and its research partners agreed that co-locating vegetation with managed grazing on utility scale solar PV sites could provide a sustainable solution to meeting the growing demand for food and energy, along with providing several co-benefits.  This research has since demonstrated benefits in soil health, water quality, stormwater control and pollinator habitat creation, with some sites experiencing over 200% improvement in organic matter as well as significantly increased total carbon storage (10-80%) and available nutrients[1]. Sheep also promote pollinator-friendly habitats by allowing some native plants to mature and bloom, unlike traditional mowing methods. Furthermore, solar grazing benefits local economies by providing new revenue streams to protect and promote the American sheep industry, including producing locally raised lamb and mutton meat, decreasing demand for imports.

Fast Company’s Summer 2025 issue (on newsstands June 17, 2025) will feature select award winners working on solutions such as a spinal cord stimulator for people who’ve been injured, modular bus shelters in Los Angeles, and AI to help eliminate counterfeit drugs.  

“The World Changing Ideas Awards have always been about showcasing the art of the possible,” says Fast Company editor-in-chief Brendan Vaughan. “We’re proud to recognize the organizations and leaders that are making meaningful progress on the biggest issues of our time.”

About Enel North America

Enel North America, part of the Enel Group, is a proven renewables leader delivering clean, flexible and sustainable energy solutions. The company develops, builds, owns and operates renewable power plants and demand response solutions, with over 11 gigawatts (GW) of installed wind and solar capacity, over 1 GW of energy storage and nearly 5 GW of demand response in the US and Canada. Enel is a top-five industry leader for clean power, demand response and utility-scale battery storage capacity in the United States. Learn more at enelnorthamerica.com and on LinkedIn, X, Facebook and YouTube. 

About Fast Company

Fast Company is the only media brand fully dedicated to the vital intersection of business, innovation, and design, engaging the most influential leaders, companies, and thinkers on the future of business. Headquartered in New York City, Fast Company is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with our sister publication Inc., and can be found online at www.fastcompany.com.

[1] https://doi.org/10.1002/essoar.10510141.1.