{ R&L Holt }
New to 2019/20 is a new site at Throckmorton, called ‘La Serra.’ This 8ha site is designed for all-year round production with LED lighting and gas CHP. Situated next to a solar farm and an anaerobic digester this flagship site has a great sustainable energy model suitable for growing in the 21st century! R&L Holt are proud to have used their experience from the last 40 years to help design and manage the site. Over the last 20 years they have worked closely with Evesham Vale Growers who focus on packing and marketing their tomatoes. Following knowledge gained by growing partners, R & L Holt, Sandylands project in 2014 (where they installed a hybrid lighting set-up with Signify Gen 1 LED Inter-lighting and HPS top-lighting) the next step taken at the La Serra site to optimise lighting further and efficiency. This has resulted in the decision to choose Signify’s new Top Compact LED module together with HPS and Gen 3 inter-lighting. Powering the lights are three Janbacher CHP engines installed by Gruppo AB. For those who know the tomato industry, the Holts have continued to use the NFT system for irrigation for 40 years now. This project clearly shows EVG’s further commitment to British tomato production. On a site where they already have a solar farm and an anaerobic digester the
glasshouse seems to fit the jigsaw nicely. Commenting on this investment Andrew Bille, Director of EVG and member of the TGA Board, says, “It’s a great and exciting project that puts us on the map for all-year round British production”. Uniconfort manufactures and install biomass plants up to 30MWth and cogeneration systems up to 5MWe. Every project starts focusing on the Customer need and the plant is designed with Uniconfort established technology. The biomass boilers produce steam, hot water, superheated water or thermal oil, using biomass from wood, from agricultural and food processing or from other processing derived fuel. Uniconfort has already installed more than 2,900 boilers all over the world suitable for heating systems, districts heating, industrial processes and cogeneration systems. In the UK, the project for R&L Holt began from the Customer needs: to install one of the most efficient and sustainable energy production systems for their glasshouse. The biomass plant installed by Uniconfort produces hot water and electricity by using waste wood recovered from the local area. With this investment the customer can reduce his operative cost and can produce his product with an environmentally friendly impact. Sustainability is key at R&L Holt. From the materials used to grow the crops to the re-usable crates the fruit is packed in, it is important to the company that sustainable products are used. As well as the biomass boilers they employ thermal screens to keep heat inside the glasshouse and also to help shade the crops during bright weather. LED lighting uses up to 40% less electricity than conventional lighting and reduces the requirement to import power and therefore not rely on the National Grid supply.
November/December Food & Drink News
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