Momentum and nature promotion

A future where climate and biodiversity solutions go hand in hand

At Momentum, we develop and operate wind and solar projects, and as managers of renewable energy land, this gives us a unique opportunity to make a positive difference for both the climate and biodiversity in each project.

The climate and biodiversity crisis are inextricably linked and require us to change the way we use the landscape. The current use of the Danish landscape fragments and homogenizes it, leaving natural areas isolated and negatively affecting many species by destroying their habitats.

Our role as an energy developer is therefore to take care of the areas we manage in a way that allows climate and biodiversity to work together in the best possible way.

We install renewable energy on agricultural land, promoting new nature on land that has previously been intensively cultivated. At the same time, we have the opportunity to strengthen and restore adjacent natural areas and in many cases reconnect natural areas.

Our Plan for Nature Promotion

To ensure that our nature and biodiversity efforts are based on a high professional foundation, we have sought help from experts in the field. Together with the consultancy Urland and consulting biologists, we have developed a concrete plan that gives us a tool to integrate biodiversity and nature in the planning of new onshore solar and wind projects.

We call the plan the Momentum Plan for Nature Promotion. It describes our vision and approach to developing renewable energy plants that both create positive nature development for biodiversity and integrate local interests. In addition to a detailed process description, the plan also contains a comprehensive catalog of specific actions that we can incorporate early in project development.

Read more about the plan in this booklet. The full nature promotion plan can also be downloaded.

Our nature goals

Our renewable energy projects must help strengthen, protect and restore nature, leaving it better than it was in the first place.

To ensure that our efforts have the right impact, we set concrete goals for how we improve nature in every project.

In practice, it is difficult to set concrete nature goals for increased biodiversity that can be monitored continuously and within a manageable budget. With the projects we can create space for increased biodiversity, but we cannot predict how and when nature will respond positively to the nature initiatives. Our nature goals in the RE projects are therefore concrete goals for nature initiatives that we ensure are truly measurable. These can be concrete habitat improvements for populations of particularly vulnerable species found in the project area or structural improvements that science considers essential for positive nature development.

Nature goals are prioritized according to the Firefighter’s Law, to preserve, protect, restore and re-establish. In the event that we cannot set local nature targets for a project that will ensure a significant net gain for biodiversity, we will also work with nature interventions off-site, where we can contribute to particularly valuable and vulnerable nature being maintained and managed in the best possible way.

Our biodiversity dogma

We have developed five biodiversity dogmas that support our vision and goals for biodiversity when planning and developing new renewable energy projects.

The dogmas guide us in ensuring that our projects develop in the right direction and have positive effects for both nature and local communities.

1: We create cohesive and multifunctional landscapes

2: We leave natural areas in higher quality than we received them

3: We work broadly with biodiversity – locally and nationally

4: We ensure local anchoring

5: We create new knowledge for the benefit of society

How we work with biodiversity in every project

We have developed a process for how we work to promote biodiversity throughout the life of the project – from the initial screening of potential sites to the decommissioning of the facilities when the project ends, typically after 30 years of operation.

First, we work with the landowner to determine what is feasible in terms of meaningful land management. This is followed by the initial phases, which include screenings, dialog with neighbors, the municipality and local stakeholders, and baseline studies of the area’s natural conditions. These phases form the basis for setting concrete nature goals and selecting specific measures that are adapted to the project’s agreements with the landowner, the size of the facility and the area’s existing natural values and potentials.

We develop a concrete management plan and continuously monitor that our nature efforts are effective in relation to the nature goals we have set.