A consortium of four British companies have earmarked a series of sites between Dumbarton and Dundee for the locations of Scotland’s next generation of hectare+ scale vertical farms, powered by 100% Scottish renewables.
The V-FAST consortium comprises UK Urban AgriTech (UKUAT), Light Science Technologies Ltd, Vertegrow Ltd, and RheEnergise Limited, the UK energy storage company. The four companies have signed a collaboration agreement to explore the potential to identify and then construct joint projects which combine vertical farming, renewable energy generation and High-Density Hydro® energy storage. V-FAST stands for Vertical Farms and Storage Technologies.
Each new V-FAST vertical farm would provide high quality food at a lower cost than can be achieved by a typical indoor farm drawing energy from the local grid. The V-FAST consortium has identified the line of low hills from Dumbarton to Dundee (Campsies, Ochils and Sidlaws) as ideal for their projects. One hectare scale vertical farm can provide premium fresh produce for a year for a town of 10,000 homes and one RheEnergise project can provide the energy storage needs for a town of the same size.
The principal challenge vertical farms face is the cost of energy, a problem made far worse in recent months. 24/7 renewable energy is the solution to the problem but as the wind does not always blow and the sun does not always shine, Long-duration energy storage (LDES) provides the answer. RheEnergise’s High Density Hydro® storage system would be built to provide the necessary grid stability and reliability, utilising the abundant existing local renewable generation (which is often curtailed) across many parts of Scotland, whilst the predictable base energy demand of a vertical farm would be provided by one or several members of UKUAT’s membership network.
Stephen Crosher, CEO of RheEnergise said: “Food production and energy are inextricably linked, with both industries striving to rapidly decarbonise and meet environmental goals. The consortium offers a home-grown solution, utilising the very latest innovations to maximise food production at the lowest cost. The advantage of storage collocated with a vertical farm are multiple: we use the same footprint, where the farm takes the upper levels and we utilise the basement; we use the same grid connection, often a significant cost for farming and storage; the energy storage solution can provide additional local energy services to local consumers, enabling them to benefit from lower energy costs too.”
Simon Deacon, CEO and Founder of Light Science Technologies commented: “The collaboration with RheEnergise, UKUAT, Light Science Technologies and Vertegrow presents a unique opportunity to revolutionise the food system in Scotland and to enable the year-round supply of fresh, flavoursome produce with less food miles and a reduced carbon footprint, thereby reducing the UK’s reliance on overseas exports.”
Graeme Warren, CEO of Vertegrow said: “Energy and labour are the two biggest operational costs for any vertical farm. V-FAST can reduce the cost of energy and so would go a long way towards enabling vertical farms to offer affordable and competitively priced produce. Vertegrow considers sustainable and carbon neutral growing to be of key importance when replacing imported crops, and V-FAST will play a large part in these ambitions.”
Stephen Crosher added: “Renewables plus High-Density Hydro can not only provide stable low-cost power to the vertical farms, but also extend these very same benefits to consumers, industry and businesses across the entire Scottish central belt.”
Subject to detailed site investigations, planning and financing, the first V-FAST project (estimated combined cost £28m) could be completed by 2025 including 10,000m3 of vertical farming floor area and 80MWh of energy storage, producing 20 to 30 times the food production as could be grown on an open field of the same size.