Energy remains an important issue in horticulture. One of the latest developments in that field is the use of batteries to store large amounts of energy. At Globe Plant, they like to lead the way—that was already the case with geothermal heat; now, they are also constructing a 1.6-kilowatt and 3-kWh battery. Paul Grootscholten shows us the battery under construction and tells us a bit about the latest developments at the company.
Thijs van de Westelaken and Henk van Dam in the greenhouse at Globe Plant
The advantages of a battery
The battery in Brielle, in which Globe Plant will soon be able to store 3-megawatt hours of energy, is enough to keep the company going for about ten hours under normal use, which has two main advantages, according to Paul. "First, that we don't get a power problem ourselves. That applies for now, but especially for the future."
In addition, the plan is to earn some more pennies with power trading. "Then we help TenneT with the regional grid. That regional grid basically belongs to Stedin, but through our battery, we are going to assist TenneT in keeping the grid here stable. We do that by clustering our two companies, on which we have a total of almost 4 MW of CHPs. With that, we can help Tennet for days to get the grid stable."
Paul Grootscholten at the battery under construction. The fireproof, soundproof walls have now been erected.
Geothermal energy
Globe Plant not only wants to lead the way with the battery - they have also been working on geothermal energy at the Vierpolders site for some time. "That is going well in itself, with occasional hiccups in the equipment. We have slightly less production than we had originally thought, but enough for the group of horticulturists connected. We have 60 hectares attached to the project. Most people are happy with the balance."
Plans are in place to start working with geothermal heat at the Brielle site too, once all the permits are in. The well, from Sustainable Voorne in Tinte, is already in place. But we go back to Vierpolders for a moment: "I started the project in 2008, and in 2015 we were finally able to drill. The capacity is currently 13 MW." By comparison, the capacity in Tinte will be 20 or 21 MW, of which about 16 MW is now being put to good use. That means we could also be connected to that well."
Residual heat as a supplement
Because geothermal heat does not cover all demand, and because the government wants to phase out CHPs, Globe Plant is also looking at waste heat. "That would then have to come from Shell's hydrogen plants. They are now building electrolyzers on the Maasvlakte, which produce enough residual heat. They can supply this to horticulture and district heating, and this requires a lot of expensive infrastructure. It would be nice if that heat goes past us because we can distribute it further as a kind of hub through our infrastructure for geothermal heat."
Conversion in Brielle
The energy projects are just some examples of the technical tours de force that Globe Plant likes to make use of for optimal operations. In Brielle, this started in 2021, when the garden of a tomato grower was taken over. "That greenhouse was then converted in seven months: the greenhouse itself did Zwirs, the screening did Huisman, heating did Verkade. Water and electricity was by Enthoven, concrete was done by Kroes, and several other contractors did further work, such as Grondwerkbedrijf Westland."
The greenhouse in Brielle is 6 hectares, of which 4 hectares have been fitted out. "It is basically used for our entire product range, but less intensively than Vierpolders. We don't do grafting and sowing here, but we do things like potting, planting, and cutting. It is a slightly more extensive location."
For more information:
Globe Plant
Tel: +31 (0)181 409 090
[email protected]
www.globeplant.nl