solar energy
Solar energy project at Sundrop Farms among Clean Energy Award finalists
The large solar project that provides Sundrop Farms Australia with energy and fresh water is nominated for the Clean Energy Council’s 2018 Innovation Award. The Danish renewable energy specialist, Aalborg CSP, has delivered the energy system to the 200,000 m2 greenhouses of Sundrop Farms in 2017.
The solar energy project is among the top four finalists. The jury sees this pioneering installation in combination with greenhouses in Port Augusta as a leading example of a successful deployment of sustainable energy technologies in Australia.
Clear demonstration project
The Clean Energy Council Awards nominates the pioneering solar energy project in the category 'Innovation Award', because it gives a clear demonstration of what is possible.
This installation with concentrated solar technology (CSP) is the first in Australia and worldwide to support greenhouse horticulture on a commercial scale.
Sundrop Farms produces annually more than 17,000 tons of tomatoes in 200,000 m2 greenhouses located in a remote area. With this yield the company accounts for about 15% of the entire tomato market in Australia.
Multiple energy flows
The unique thing about this project is that the installation with solar energy produces electricity, heat and fresh water. In general, CSP plants at other sites in the world only produce electricity while heat is discharged as waste. An Integrated Energy System has been created at this location with a thermal efficiency of up to 95% that produces multiple energy flows.
Computer-controlled mirrors
The installation consists of more than 23,000 heliostats (computer-controlled mirrors) that bundle the sun's rays in the Australian desert and reflect them towards the top of a 127 meters high solar tower. The concentration of solar energy produces high temperatures that Sundrop Farms then uses to heat the greenhouses in the winter and on cold summer nights, but also to provide fresh water by desalinating seawater drawn from the nearby Spencer Gulf (5 km from the site) and to periodically run a steam turbine to produce electricity.
Source and photo: Aalborg CSP
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Good start to cucumber cultivation in Chinese Solar Greenhouse
There are around one million hectares of greenhouses in China. Many of these are so-called ‘’Solar Greenhouses’: greenhouses with a wall that stores solar radiation during the day and releases it into the greenhouse at night.
We recently built a similar style greenhouse at our Bleiswijk site. Together with our consortium partners Delphy, Ridder/Hortimax, Hoogendoorn and Svensson, we kitted it out with a number of Dutch technologies. Of these, substrate cultivation with an irrigation computer, automated ventilation and a transparent screen inside the greenhouse are the most eye-catching innovations. With this Dutch technology and expertise we are aiming to achieve higher production with fewer problems with diseases.
We started off growing cucumbers. On 30 March we planted two varieties: a well-known, robust “Dutch” variety and a new “Chinese” variety with smaller, spiny fruits. The plants are being grown on a semi-high wire system. The crop got off to a promising start straight away due to the flexibility of the screen.
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Farmer stores solar energy in a giant battery
Generating energy from more than a thousand solar panels, temporarily storing the electricity in a giant battery and selling it when prices are most favourable: arable farmer Jan Reinier de Jong in Odoorn is the first farmer in the Netherlands with a battery like this on his premises.
Prices on the electricity market are subject to continual fluctuation. Thanks to his lithium-ion battery, De Jong can sell electricity whenever he wants. He developed a system in collaboration with Jules Energy that allows him to sell the electricity he generates at precisely the right moment: when the price is high. However, as soon as the price of electricity drops, or on the occasions that he is actually paid to remove his electricity from the grid, De Jong does exactly the opposite: he buys electricity. This way, both scenarios are equally profitable. Fortunately, there’s no need for him to constantly keep an eye on the prices: his software takes care of this automatically.
The entrepreneur expects to have paid back his investment in ten years’ time. He will also be able to do this by using the solar energy he generates for the storage of potatoes. De Jong predicts that batteries like his will be in use all over the Netherlands within ten years.
Energy storage is the key for our future
LTO Nederland Chairman Albert Jan Maat officially opened the energy storage unit together with Harold Hoffenk (Rabobank, Borger-Klenckeland branch) and Ttisse Stelpstra (member of the Provincial Executive of the Province of Drenthe). They believe that farmers like Jan Reinier de Jong will be playing a significant role in the transition to clean energy. Just like De Jong, they are of the opinion that energy storage on farms is the key for our future. ‘The agricultural industry yields around 45% of all renewable energy in our country. The past few years have seen numerous farms and greenhouse growers involved in 70% of all applications for the SDE+ budget, a grant for the stimulation of sustainable energy. Dairy farms in the Netherlands are already operating on a 68% energy neutral basis. Additionally, 71% of all windmills in this country are built on farmlands or in hands of agricultural entrepreneurs.’
Dutch farmers and greenhouse growers are frontrunners in the field of food quality and safety. The efficient use of energy, the generation of renewable energy and energy savings are priority issues in this sector. Maat anticipates outstanding performance by the agricultural industry with regard to energy, climate and sustainability in the next decade to come. After all, the sector already has access to everything it needs: solar panels, biomass, windmills and geothermal heat. ‘There are numerous alternatives that can easily replace fossil fuels, like wind, solar, soil and biomass. Opportunities abound in this area.’
Source: LTO Noord/Drenthe in Transitie. Photo: Jan Reinier de Jong/CleanEnergy.
Kubo to build 190 hectares of solar greenhouses in Oman
Greenhouse builder KUBO is building a 190-hectare solar greenhouse complex for PDO, Oman’s largest oil producer. Instead of crops, the greenhouses will be containing solar mirrors. The idea is that greenhouses will be protecting the solar collectors from sandstorms.
The special greenhouses use solar energy to generate steam, which is subsequently used to extract oil. The customer, oil producer PDO, has set high demands for the greenhouses. They must be built to last a very long time, be absolutely water and air tight, and capable of withstanding extreme temperatures. ‘We couldn’t use polymers in these greenhouses, for example,’ explained KUBO’s CEO Wouter Kuiper in an interview for the Dutch financial daily newspaper het Financieel Dagblad.
Solar energy plant in the desert
The greenhouses are produced in the Netherlands and shipped to Oman, where they will comprise one of the largest solar energy plants in the world. The complex, which is being built on the outskirts of the Amal oil field in the south of Oman, will span 190 hectares: the size of approximately 350 football fields. The solar plant will be capable of producing more than one gigawatt of solar thermal energy at its peak.
Kubo was involved in the development of the solar greenhouse right from the very beginning. Kuiper: ‘We embarked on the initial designs for the project five years ago. Following a three-year trial in the desert with a positive outcome our customer wanted to set to work immediately.’ Several other Dutch companies will be involved in the realisation of the project. They will be handling such aspects as climate technology and steam conveyor systems.
Source/artist impression: Financieel Dagblad.
‘Energy will be available practically for free in 20 or 30 years’
The bi-annual AgroEnergy symposium was held at the Rotterdam STC Building’s Lloyd Hall on 21 January 2016. The key topic of the symposium was: ‘How can tomorrow’s energy be applied to today’s greenhouse?’ Led by Frits Wester, seven speakers from the energy industry presented their vision on this topic. This article will feature the highlights of trendwatcher Adjiedj Bakas’ presentation.
Adjiedj Bakas, the Netherlands’ most prominent trendwatcher, kicked off the symposium with a sharp analysis of what the world will look like in 2025. He predicts two major shifts, which he describes as ‘climate sobriety’ and ‘new aesthetics’. He called 2015 a year of great inventions and predicts rapid changes, in which he addressed the symposium’s topic of how the energy we and the greenhouse horticulture industry will be using in the future will be generated: at the bottom of the sea, among other alternatives. Tidal energy is a promising source of energy, as are small windmills without blades. ‘Energy will be available practically for free in 20 or 30 years.’
Energy from seaweed
According to an idea that dates back to 1920, we are technically able to combat climate change by creating clouds from seawater with specially designed small boats. Japan will be experimenting with a solar energy plant in outer space. We will also be growing seaweed in floating greenhouses that can be moved about as we like. Seaweed could very well become the energy source of the future. ‘What we need most are radical, new ideas,’ he advocated. Co-creation and co-makership are also rapidly emerging trends.
Energy from nuclear waste
However, these aren’t the only interesting innovations today. The first medicines produced from flowers are already available. Coffins are being made from potato peelings, on which a tree can grow beautifully. A more beautiful and sustainable memorial is hardly imaginable. Bioplastics are made from plants, which offers new possibilities for the horticulture industry. We will be generating energy on the façades of buildings. And nuclear energy will experience a comeback, but in an entirely new way. New nuclear power plants will be running on nuclear waste, or thorium. ‘The oil era won’t come to an end due to a lack of oil, but because people will be choosing alternative energy sources.’ Waste will no longer exist; everything will become a resource. Water is already being recycled in the horticulture industry.
Creative energy
‘A lot of money is being put into innovation these days. Bank interest is reaching the zero point. Venture Capital is available everywhere; funding has never been so easy to arrange!’ Opportunities abound for the horticulture industry, according to Bakas, but this will ‘demand a certain spirit’. His advice to horticulturists: ‘Experiment, get off the beaten track. Make your own path! Speak to people outside of your own sector,’ he advised the audience. ‘See what other industries are doing and focus on creative solutions rather than efficiency.’
Text: Mario Bentvelsen. Photo: AgroEnergy.