Farming on seawater & sunshine

Australia is the driest inhabited continent.¹ Driest state in that dry continent is South Australia.²

Located at the top of the Spencer Gulf in South Australia is the city of Port Augusta. With mean annual rainfall of just 257.1mm & 65.9 mean rain days,³ it would would not normally be considered a good location to farm tomatoes.


Spencer Gulf
Credit: Wikepedia

Sundrop Farm is located near the city of Port Augusta. Tomatoes are grown in greenhouses. Energy is provided by a solar thermal power plant.


Sundrop Farm near Port Augusta, at the top of the Spencer Gulf
Credit: Sundrop farms

In the image above:

● lower left – some of the 23,000 mirrors in the Sundrop solar thermal power plant

● right, centre – central collector, at the top of the 127-metre tower, where light reflected from the mirrors is concentrated

● bottom, centre – biggest thermal energy storage tank in the southern hemisphere

● centre & right – greenhouses

Heat energy captured in the central collector (up to 39 megaWatts) is used to:
● generate electricity for a range of purposes, including pumping water
● distil fresh water from sea water
● heat/cool the greenhouses as necessary

Excess heat energy is stored in the thermal energy storage tank for use at night or on the, relatively rare, rainy days.

Thermal solar turns the principal disadvantage of Port Augusta – lack of rain – into an advantage. Fewer cloudy days means more sunlight for crop growth & the thermal solar power plant.

ABC – Sundrop Farms pioneering solar-powered greenhouse to grow food without fresh water
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-01/sundrop-farms-opens-solar-greenhouse-using-no-fresh-water/7892866

Sundrop Farms web site
http://www.sundropfarms.com/

Sundrop Farms TV
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=sundrop+farms
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¹ “The Australian continent”, http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/our-country/the-australian-continent

² “South Australia Facts”, http://www.about-australia.com/south-australia-facts/

³ Port Augusta at the head of the Spencer Gulf has mean annual rainfall of 257.1mm, & 65.9 mean rain days. http://www.weatherzone.com.au/climate/station.jsp?lt=site&lc=19066

Contrast this with Sydney on the east coast of Australia, with mean annual rainfall of 1211.9mm, & 143.6 mean rain days. http://www.weatherzone.com.au/climate/station.jsp?lt=site&lc=66062

/ Sundrop Farms pioneering solar-powered greenhouse grow food without fresh water groundbreaking greenhouse sunlight seawater grow tomatoes 300 kilometres north Adelaide company Sundrop Farms developing idea pilot plant outskirts Port Augusta building commercial facility 100 times larger project head grower Adrian Simkins first for Port Augusta first in the world 20-hectare futuristic looking facility field more than 23,000 mirrors capture sunlight central receiver 127-metre power tower peak produces 39 megawatts thermal energy electricity heating water water irrigating crops piped from Spencer Gulf converted fresh water fresh-water freshwater thermal desalination unit tomato greenhouses desalinated water first-class perfect water taking salt out no disease very pure enhance nutrition plants require project Philipp Saumweber funding international agricultural projects Dutch civil engineer Reinier Wolterbeek masters degree water management grow vegies vegetables desert think smart solution turning dream commercial reality challenges Sundrop roof blow off greenhouse 45-degree Celsius day lost our entire trial crop lost team members fresh water solar-driven project relies on grid utilities power needs during winter less sunlight storage on site 10 days water heating cooling electricity problem on site rely on the grid commercial facility cost $200 million build private equity firm KKR investing $100 million Sundrop Farms 10-year contract grower secured retailer Coles longest agreement horticulture Coles head fresh produce Brad Gorman security paid volumes grow Port Augusta facility produce at least 15,000 tonnes truss tomatoes year tomatoes supermarket winter gap supply and demand Sundrop fill that gap /