Company Announcement - After completing the pre-engineering study, Aalborg CSP was awarded the turnkey contract to develop and deliver an integrated concentrated solar power energy system for Sundrop Farms’ expanding greenhouse facilities. The system will combine multiple technologies for renewable heat, fresh water and electricity production, enabling clean energy-based horticulture in the Australian desert.

Aalborg CSP in collaboration with John Holland is selected to develop and deliver an Integrated CSP Energy System for the operation of Sundrop Farms’ new greenhouse facilities. As a pioneer within arid climate agricultural business, Sundrop Farms has a unique concept of growing high-value crops in the South Australian desert using seawater and sunlight as main resources. Their pilot plant’s positive operational experience since 2010 encouraged the large-scale application of the technology, expanding current operation by 20 hectares with the aim of producing over 15,000 tonnes of fresh vegetables annually for the Australian consumers.

To transform the concept into a feasible project, Aalborg CSP has already completed the pre-engineering study and determined technical and economic viability of the project as well as the scope of the system. Based on the positive findings, Aalborg CSP has now received the order to supply the Integrated CSP Energy System, a novel configuration of CSP technologies, enabling year-round operation of Sundrop Farm’s horticulture activities in the South Australian arid region of Port Augusta.

“The Sundrop project is a good example of how early pre-engineering involvement and strong collaboration can lead concepts to larger scale project realisation. Aalborg CSP is proud to be a part of this groundbreaking project and will ensure that the solar energy plant is fully operational for the 2016 Australian Spring,” – said Svante Bundgaard, CEO of Aalborg CSP.

The Integrated CSP Energy System will combine multiple technologies to utilize given natural resources in the most efficient way. The integrated solar plant is based on a CSP tower technology and the system will be capable of heating the greenhouse in wintertime and on cold summer nights, to provide fresh water by desalinating seawater drawn from the Spencer Bay (5km from the site), and to periodically run a steam turbine to produce electricity. Besides the technical scope of the project, Aalborg CSP has also determined a reasonable timeframe for site construction - the CSP system is scheduled to be operational by October 2016.