Lysabild Solar Park

Nordic Solar’s first solar park with a focus on nature restoration and biodiversity

See how Lysabild Solar Park was built with a focus on nature restoration

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About Lysabild solar park

Lysabild solar park is located on Als in Southern Jutland and covers an area of 33 hectares, equivalent to almost 50 football fields. The solar park has a capacity of 33 MWp and can generate electricity equivalent to the consumption of 9,000 households. The solar park was built in 2022 and had its official inauguration on 27 January 2023 with the mayor of Sønderborg, Erik Lauritzen, cutting the ribbon.

In collaboration with the consulting firm Mols Consulting, Lysabild has been developed with a special focus on nature restoration in and around the park from the outset. The solar park is established on former agricultural land, which, as a general rule, lacks biodiversity. Therefore, some of the nature restoration measures implemented in the solar park include soil adaptation and selection of plants for hedgerows, providing habitats for various species. In this way, we hope to create a better living environment for the species already present in the area, which we will continuously monitor.

Some of the specific measures to restore nature and increase biodiversity in Lysabild solar park are the following:

  • The topsoil is removed, and sand is laid out. The cultivated soil found in most of Denmark is rich in nutrients. Some species thrive under less fertile conditions.

  • The local development plan specifies that hedgerows should screen the area. Specific plants are chosen for the hedgerows, such as blackthorn, willow and bird cherry. This ensures pollen availability from early spring to late autumn, which is essential for certain bee species.

  • High-voltage power lines pass over the area. Solar panels cannot be installed underneath them, so the ground is sown with flowers that benefit species like the long-hovering hoverfly.

  • Re-establishment of watering holes. These provide suitable breeding sites for amphibians as large aquatic predators, such as those that prey on tadpoles, cannot survive there.

  • Strategic locations are designated for stone and brush piles, which serve as habitats for various species. By not removing and processing trimmed branches, CO2 emissions are also reduced.

Visit our biodiversity page to learn more about our biodiversity initiatives.

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Together with Nordic Solar, we have deployed a new mindset in our approach to biodiversity, prioritising the identified and recommended actions according to their effects on the financial and practical framework of the solar park. We must identify the actions that trigger the greatest synergy between the operation of the solar parks and nature – and then let nature do its work, because that is how we create the greatest positive impact.

– Mols Consulting

A green collaboration

Through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), Lysabild solar park provides green electricity to Skjern paper, Denmark’s only paper company. Skjern Paper already operates with a circular economic approach, focusing on full waste recycling, reduction of water consumption and utilization of waste heat, which helps cover over half of Skjern’s heating requirement.

Skjern Paper is poised to be the sustainable paper mill of the future and is actively implementing climate-neutral operations throughout its supply chain. With green energy from Lysabild solar park, Skjern Paper achieves an important milestone in relation to its ambitions of a circular economy.