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A breeding programme for an endangered species is being hosted at a 505-hectare operational solar park in Saudi Arabia. The 250MW facility, situated within the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve, is regarded as a setting where sand gazelles could establish a sustainable herd.
The solar PV installation was constructed and is operated by the Amaala Sustainable Company for Energy (ASCE), a joint venture comprising the EDF Group, Masdar, SUEZ, and Korea East-West Power (EWP).
A seven-month proof-of-concept commenced in October 2025, encompassing multiple species, with sand gazelles chosen due to their ecological significance and compatibility with the site’s conditions. In May 2026, thirty-eight sand gazelles were released into the solar plant, with offspring anticipated by December of this year.
Modelling conducted by the Reserve’s Scientific Services Division projects that the introduced herd will expand to approximately 600 head by 2031. A minimum of 500 animals is deemed necessary for reintroduction into the broader 24,500km2 reserve.
Roughly 73% of the site’s area will be accessible to the animals, consisting of open habitat and zones beneath the panels where ground temperature is 5-10degC cooler. A predator-proof fence will safeguard the sand gazelles, and a specialist ranger team will monitor them.
Known as ReWildingVoltaics, the initiative’s results are expected to guide comparable future programmes in other regions where utility-scale renewable energy infrastructure and wildlife restoration can coexist, according to the Royal Reserve.
Omar AlDaweesh, CEO of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain at EDF Group, stated that this initiative illustrates how renewable energy infrastructure can deliver value beyond the clean electricity it produces. By incorporating biodiversity conservation into an operational solar facility, he added, it is being shown how energy infrastructure and nature can coexist.
AgriPV projects typically merge traditional agriculture with PV arrays, for instance the introduction of sheep at facilities in France’s Cher and Charente departments. Nevertheless, the Saudi initiative is described as one of the first to pursue biodiversity action for endangered species within operational PV facilities.
Italy provides some of the most favourable physical and financial conditions for agriPV, notwithstanding a 2024 ban on the practice that was only partially lifted in 2025. In May this year, Danish IPP European Energy built a 225.5MW agriPV project in Sicily, while Austria’s renewable energy company Kelag International acquired a portfolio of agrivoltaic projects last month in the country’s Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions.
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