Pioneering the Future of Sustainable Agriculture with Integrated Vertical Farming and Renewable Energy
VFAST offers a home-grown solution that leverages the latest innovations to maximise food production while minimising costs. Our consortium is committed to decarbonising both the food production and energy industries. The integration of energy storage with vertical farming offers multiple advantages:
Cultivating novel crops in vertical farms and assessing their nutritive value
Sizing, siting, and integrating RheEnergise’s
High-Density Hydro® storageEvaluating environmental and economic sustainability
Mapping the commercial landscape
from farm to plate
VFAST is dedicated to delivering sustainable and efficient food production solutions, ensuring a brighter, greener future for all.
RheEnergise's High-Density Hydro®: Powering Scotland with Stable, Low-Cost Renewable Energy
Vertical farms require reliable and low-cost energy to operate efficiently. While renewable energy is cost-effective, it is also intermittent.
To address this challenge, vertical farms need a long-duration energy storage solution of 8-12 hours, which is longer than conventional batteries can economically provide.
RheEnergise’s High-Density Hydro® storage system offers a viable solution, providing necessary grid stability and reliability.
This system leverages abundant local renewable generation across many parts of Scotland, which is often curtailed, to ensure a near-constant supply of low-cost, carbon-free energy.
High-density hydro (HDH) is based on pumped-hydroelectric storage but uses a high-density fluid instead of water, meaning that projects can either be 60% smaller volumetrically (cheaper, quicker to consent/construct) or can be installed on hills 60% lower (many more potential sites). Moreover, when co-located with a vertical farm, HDH can utilise the same footprint for much of its infrastructure.
Learn more about RheEnergise’s High-Density Hydro® energy storage
“IGS is proud to be partnering with James Hutton Institute & Rheenergise to advance crop research with the V-FAST project. This interdisciplinary alignment of Vertical Farming technology, Renewable energy and academic research is a futuristic collaborative approach aimed to develop cutting edge tools and processes that will help drive the UK Ag industry forward. We are excited to be part of this project.”
Tanveer Khan, Head of Science, IGS
Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS): developing key features in Total Controlled Environment Agriculture (TCEA)
By minimising water, fertiliser, and pesticide use, our vertical farms are environmentally friendly. They utilise artificial lighting and climate control to achieve optimal growing conditions, producing high-quality food at lower costs compared to typical indoor farms that draw energy from the local grid.
Key Features of IGS/TCEA:
Precision Climate Control:
Our indoor farms maintain precise temperature, humidity, and CO2 levels, ensuring plants receive the perfect environment for growth year-round.
Artificial Lighting:
Utilising energy-efficient LED lights, we mimic natural sunlight to provide plants with the specific light spectrum they need at different growth stages, enhancing yield and quality.
Soil-Free Growing Techniques:
By employing hydroponic and aeroponic systems, we eliminate the need for soil, reducing the risk of soil-borne diseases and optimising water and nutrient delivery directly to the plants’ roots.
Resource Efficiency:
TCEA significantly reduces water, fertiliser, and pesticide use. Our closed-loop systems recycle water and nutrients, making our farms highly sustainable and environmentally friendly.
Renewable Energy Integration:
Our farms are powered by locally produced renewable energy, supplemented by innovative Long-Duration Energy Storage (LDES) solutions to ensure a constant, reliable power supply.
Real-Time Monitoring and Automation:
Advanced sensors and automation systems continuously monitor and adjust growing conditions, ensuring optimal plant health and maximising productivity with minimal human intervention.
Scalability and Adaptability:
TCEA systems are modular and scalable, allowing us to set up farms in a variety of locations, from urban rooftops to rural areas, making fresh, local produce accessible to more communities.
