Fulcrum has secured a contract to provide energy and utilities to one of the UK’s largest greenhouses.
Under the £5m contract, the Sheffield-based multi-utility contractor will design and install electricity, gas, and water infrastructure for the 22-hectare vegetable-growing facility near Ely, Cambridgeshire.
The facility has the capacity to grow 10% of the total number of cucumbers consumed in Britain each year.
Working with AGR Renewables for developer Greencoat Capital, Fulcrum will install 5.7km of electricity infrastructure, 12.5km of gas infrastructure, and 2.9km of water infrastructure as part of its contract.
Fulcrum will also provide network connections to a new Combined Heat and Power (CHP) energy centre adjacent to the greenhouse.
The energy centre will power open-loop heat pumps, which will use heat from the nearby reservoir to warm the greenhouse.
The CHP plant will also power LED lighting, which will be used to accelerate plant growth and increase year-round yields by up to 27%.
The renewable heating process will also deliver a 30% reduction in CO2 compared to conventionally heated greenhouses.
Overall, the facility will also use 10 times less water compared with field-grown vegetables.
The development is expected to provide around 300 jobs.
Image: west cowboy/Shutterstock
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