Using AI to protect biodiversity: How Urbasolar supports sustainable solar development

Founded in 2006, Urbasolar has been part of Axpo Group since 2019 and today leads the group's international solar activities. Urbasolar has more than 750 operational solar power plants, for which it has handled the design, engineering, development, construction and operation. Over the years, the company has accumulated a vast amount of ecological data from biodiversity assessments carried out at operational solar sites.

These reports are essential when applying for permits for new installations. Project managers must demonstrate that a planned site will not negatively affect protected species or ecosystems, often by referencing evidence from existing plants. In practice, however, this process can be time-consuming: teams need to search through hundreds of highly technical, site-specific reports to find precise ecological information.

"Before, answering a very specific biodiversity question could take hours or even days," explains Julien Burato."Now, we can access relevant observations across our portfolio in minutes, which makes a real difference in day-to-day project work."

Since March 2025, Urbasolar has addressed this challenge with an AI chatbot built on the Microsoft Azure ecosystem. The tool provides centralized, rapid access to biodiversity and environmental data across Urbasolar's portfolio, allowing users to retrieve relevant insights in seconds rather than hours.