Plans for a 40-hectare greenhouse in Essex, England

Oasthouse Ventures (OHV) plans to build a 40-hectare greenhouse project on previously cleared land east of Braintree in Essex. The project is called “Rivenhall Greenhouse”. OHV is working with Wren Renewables as landowner and the Indaver Integrated Waste Management Facility is currently being built nearby. “The co-op uses waste heat, carbon dioxide and local electricity generation to grow tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers.”

Oasthouse Ventures is known for this Low carbon agriculture project In Bury St Edmunds and Norwich. Heat is extracted from the wastewater of local treatment plants and transferred to heat pumps at their sites.

According to EssexLive, a vertical farm will also be built in an existing Rivenhall RAF hangar.

Local agriculture
The aim of the Rivenhall Greenhouse project is to grow tomatoes locally so that the UK becomes less dependent on tomato imports. Therefore, this initiative should ensure food security.

“Rivenhall Greenhouse will create 420 full-time jobs and 80 part-time jobs, investing €345.45 million into Braintree’s economy through salary payments over the first 20 years of operation.

More about the plans will be revealed at a meeting later this month. Approximately 28,000 tonnes of tomatoes will be grown annually at Rivenhall Greenhouse. “This equates to around 7.1% of UK tomato imports. Around 500,000 tonnes of tomatoes are consumed in the UK each year, of which around 400,000 tonnes are imported.”

Addressing import weaknesses
“Imports of tomatoes from southern Spain and Morocco are increasingly threatened by water scarcity and extreme temperatures due to climate change. The Netherlands, an important supplier of tomatoes to the UK, also relies heavily on natural gas to grow them. This is nurturing because this time it is focused on reducing second-hand emissions. carbon oxide.”

Grow lights will be installed in the greenhouse. “This allows OHV to plant vegetables in August to supply traders with winter vegetables. Blackout screens are installed in the greenhouses equipped with grow lights. They are proven to reduce 99% of light emissions,” shares the team. Vegetables are grown in greenhouses in a closed hydroponic system. All wastewater is collected, cleaned and reused.

More information is here It can be found on the project website.