Renewable energy installations like wind farms, solar arrays and battery storage sites are often built on open land. Today, many forward-thinking operators recognise that these sites can serve a dual purpose: generating clean power while creating biodiversity uplift. 

One growing approach is to plant native wildflowers and grasses beneath and around solar panels, transforming sterile fields into active meadows. Argonne National Lab reports that within 5 years of planting prairie habitat at solar arrays, total insect abundance tripled. These flowering meadows can potentially outperform the barren ground they replaced, offering vital habitat for pollinators, birds and other wildlife like small mammals.

A 2025 study by the RSPB and Cambridge University found that solar farms in England hosted nearly 3X as many birds as the surrounding arable land. Crucially, the sites that were managed with nature in mind with grassy margins, wildflower strips and varied habitats saw the biggest gains. This shows that planning green infrastructure at renewable sites pays dividends. Some wind farms are adopting the same idea by planting flowering hedgerows or leaving strips of grassland around turbines to form wildlife corridors.

Companies generating wind and solar power are increasingly embracing nature-based strategies. By integrating nature positive habitat management strategies companies can also meet key upcoming regulations and planning requirements such as EIAs, Biodiversity Net Gain, CSRD, TNFD and GRI. Studies make it clear that post-construction gains are achievable: insect and bird populations often rise significantly with careful habitat management. Maintaining these gains requires commitment to long-term monitoring, as Polliknow does for partners in energy sectors: tracking metrics long-term ensures that energy projects create net biodiversity gain during the lifecycle of the project.