Agriport A7: Geothermal heath and open-source CO2-supply for sustainable growth

The geothermal energy project at Agriport A7 has already been operational over the past year and a half. After an intensive testing period, the geothermal energy center now delivers stable heat for heating the greenhouses. ECW Network, the grid operator in the area of Agriport and the organization responsible for the geothermal center, now takes the next step towards greater sustainability of the horticultural sector in the Agriport plan area.

In recent months ECW Network has developed an open-source CO2 distribution network. "In the Agriport plan area, plants will be cultivated in 340 hectares of greenhouse acreage at 10 companies, all of which use CO2 for growth. For the provision of CO2 the companies were dependent on the recovery of CO2 from the flue gases from combined heat and power stations and the heating units. With the arrival of the new CO2 distribution network, companies can now conduct pure CO2 from outside the Agriport area," says Koen Hand, project manager for the construction of the CO2 network.

"The heat and power stations and the heating units can now be turned off sooner so the use of natural gas will be reduced."

CO2 supply has been a topic of discussion for many years in the greenhouse horticulture area. The first ideas for delivery of CO2 by ship, dates from 2006. At that time, it was not possible to make a convincing business case, but with the arrival of sustainable heat from the geothermal energy center the CO2 supply is necessary. There are many developments around CO2 which are of influence on the cost structure, such as the emission costs - and trade, storage systems and innovations for decentralized sources. According to Koen Hand, the personal distribution network enables them to adapt to this development in the future.

With OCAP, which has supplied CO2 by pipeline to six hundred growers for ten years, ECW will now supply in Agriport. OCAP placed two tanks in Agriport of over 20 meters in length, for the storage of 400 tons of liquid CO2. These tanks are connected to a so called vaporizer, necessary for the change from a liquid to a gaseous state, which will be pumped into the network. Jacob Limbeek, director and co-founder of OCAP says that the project is also important to OCAP. "With this expansion, we take a large step in our own strategy to deliver large quantities of affordable CO2 to growers outside the area in which we've already operated for ten years. Access to CO2 is crucial for the sustainability of the horticultural sector."

Unfortunately, the downside of this construction became clear last week. Due tot financial problems at Abengoa, one of the CO2 suppliers, no CO2 is being produced and therefor the 600 Dutch growers have to grow without it this month.

The CO2 is conducted from the mother company of OCAP, Linde Gas Benelux. This is one of the largest gas suppliers in the world.

Robert Kielstra, director of ECW Network, about the project: "CO2 was a missing link in our ambition to reduce the consumption of natural gas. With the new network and the cooperation with Linde Gas Benelux we can now make a huge step forward. That makes it possible to further develop with alternative heat sources like geothermal energy. This works both ways."

For more information:
ECW Netwerk
Postbus 5
1775 ZG Middenmeer
Netherlands
info@ecwnetwerk.nl
www.ecwnetwerk.nl