Pine Gate Renewables is proud to announce a research collaboration with the University of North Texas (UNT) at Denton in connection with the Denton County Porter Solar project. The Pine Gate team is exploring a number of ways to work with UNT’s Advanced Environmental Research Institute (AERI) and the Department of Biological Sciences with a focus on the vegetation, seeding, and biological ecosystem at Pine Gate’s Porter Solar site.

In October, Pine Gate hosted a UNT professor and group of students from the Biological Sciences Department at the Porter site for a biodiversity and reference collection activity. The students observed and documented the variety of flora and fauna (plants and wildlife/insects, etc.) that can be found on the site. This initial visit included baseline data collection, while future visits will allow UNT representatives to observe how the ecosystem may change during the operation of the facility. The observation areas were spread out over the site and did not interfere with or include any active construction areas. The students will compile the data and observations as a part of their academic curriculum and results will be shared with Pine Gate.

The intent and benefits of this include:

• Student Education: UNT students will have a unique opportunity to observe and document biodiversity at a solar site and thereby enhance their in-classroom studies.
• Positive Land Impact: The observations may show benefits to the type and quantity of flora and fauna at the site due to the land being undisturbed during the project’s operational life span.
• Inform Pine Gate’s Development Processes: The results of this research will help Pine Gate learn about how biological ecosystems may be affected by solar projects and evolve its development and site design process based on data driven insights.
• Community Engagement: This collaboration reflects Pine Gate’s commitment to a long-term community partnership in Denton County.