Sundrop Farms
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
Related
Sundrop Farms most inspirational tomato grower of 2016
Sundrop Farms from Australia was elected most inspirational tomato grower of 2016 during the Tomato Inspiration Event held in Berlin on 4 February. The 100 most innovative tomato growers in the world gathered in Berlin for the third edition of this event. This year it was up to the guests to elect the inspirational winner.
The Tomato Inspiration Award was presented to Philipp Saumweber of Sundrop Farms at the Puro Skybar in Berlin. As there were no specific themes associated with this year’s event, there was no call for the appointment of an international jury. Instead, the participants themselves were invited to cast their votes for the grower who inspires them more than any other.
Previous winners Windset Farms (2014) and Duijvestijn Tomaten (2015) contributed to the event alongside the organisers of the event in the compilation of a long list of the most inspirational producers and product organisations. This resulted in four nominations: APS Salads from Cheshire (UK), the Flandria label of the joint Belgian auctions (LAVA) from Leuven (Belgium), Sundrop Farms from Adelaide (Australia) and Zeiler Gemüsevertrieb from Münchendorf (Austria). Sundrop Farms ultimately won the most votes and was acclaimed the winner.
High-tech in the desert
This year, Sundrop Farms will be opening a state-of-the-art production facility in Port Augusta, in the southern part of Australia. The site will feature four controlled greenhouses (each covering five hectares of land), a desalination system and a field of solar panels that consists of a tower 115 metres high and over 23,000 mirrors to capture the sun’s energy. The new site is unique in the world and will offer employment to some 175 workers and produce over 17,000 tonnes of tomatoes annually. The facility will make use of solar energy, seawater and natural crop protection agents. You can follow the construction of Sundrop Farms from close by on YouTube.
The Tomato Inspiration Event is organised by KAS Tuinbouwcommunicatie and HortiBiz, and sponsored by Bayer, Delphy, Koppert Biological Systems, Oerlemans Plastics, Priva, Saint-Gobain Cultilene and Svensson.
Source: Tomato Inspiration Event. Photo: Sundrop Farms.