Renewable energies have proven to be very useful and versatile when undertaking new ideas. Great technological innovations are being implemented today in the markets thanks to renewable energies. From small businesses that are electrically self-sufficient to new ways of approaching business, renewable energies can emerge.
Who would say that they could grow tomatoes in the middle of the desert, without polluting and without emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Well, this is already a fact carried out by a pioneer farm in Australia. The technology to carry it out is developed by the Danish company Aalborg CSP.
This company has managed to install a concentrated solar energy system that is capable of providing the energy and desalinating the fresh water necessary to be able to produce about 17 million kg of organic tomatoes per year. This is equivalent to 15% of the entire Australian tomato market.
This pioneering company started operating a facility located on the Sundrop farm (Port Augusta) at full capacity on October 6 of this month. The complex where the facility is located is of sustainable agriculture in the arid world and has with 20.000 square meters of greenhouses. The advantage of these facilities is that they do not depend on fossil fuels and fresh water resources for their operation, but instead use renewable energy to be able to desalinate the water necessary for irrigation and provide the energy required for their cultivation.
In order to meet these energy and water needs, the Danish company has developed a CSP system capable of providing the necessary energy to heat the greenhouse and to be able to water the tomatoes. The energy is generated the 23.000 heliostats installed on the desert floor, which collect the sun's rays and project them onto the top of a 127m high solar tower.