The Solution

CEA & FAB

Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA)

Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) is growing fast around the globe. Major drivers for the growth of the market are high yield and there are numerous other benefits associated with vertical farming over conventional farming. By implementing CEA methods, the growing demand for sustainable food is satisfied.

Benefits of CEA

All-year-round local production
Minimum transport & storage
Minimum use of agrochemicals
95% less water
Shorter supply chain for less waste
90% less land
All-year-round local production
95% less water
Minimum transport & storage
Shorter supply chain for less waste
Minimum use of agrochemicals
99% less land

Industry Challenges

The main challenge for mass deployment and adaption of CEA is financial viability. There are specific challenges involved which need to be addressed to enable the economics of vertical farming. 

These are the costs related to:
High energy usage
Human resources
Technology scalability
Capital infrastructure

As it stands, without clean and affordable electricity, transformative food production methods, e.g., CEA, will not provide the competitive outputs required to become a mainstream supplier to the consumer market, nor will the food industry be able to achieve net zero emissions by 2040.

Farm as a Battery: The Solution

The Farm as a Battery (FAB) concept overcomes CEA pressure points. FAB not only enables vertical farming to scale up, which is the perfect answer to fragile food supply chain and unsustainable agriculture, but also enhances the grid’s clean generation and storage capacity at peak-demand hours (required to accommodate the intermittent renewable generation).

All CEA systems share basic requirements: light, heat, automation and control. FAB is an integrated technology solution that maximises the benefits of indoor farming. It identifies flexible demand opportunities, using them to enhance the resource efficiency of onsite energy systems. By offering flexible demand and local capacity to grid demand-side response programmes, the total cost of electricity (TCOE) is reduced, whilst carbon-neutral operations are maintained.

This makes CEA technology a financially viable and attractive solution for investors and customers interested in long-term commercial and environmental sustainability.