Katunga Fresh produces some of Australia's best tomatoes and capsicums in Australia, with over 21 hectares of growhouse under glass. Optimal Group has recently commissioned it's latest protected cropping energy solution at the facility to power, heat & fertigate the facility.
Capstone Combined Heat & Power Solution bathed in the pink hue of growhouse lighting
The 2,400 kW turbine solution uses a combination of 2 x Capstone C1000 turbine packages (each 5 x 200 kW turbine modules) and 2 x Capstone C200 turbines. In total, the 12 x 200 modules provide excellent redundancy and modularity.
Optimal's high efficiency heat recovery module was jointly developed with our partners Kelvion GmbH to maximise the system efficiency, with each turbine module able to produce 200 kW of power (190 kW net) and up to 318 kW of hot water.
This hot water is used to keep the glasshouse at optimal temperature. Operating as a combined heat and power system delivers over 83% efficiency. The cooled exhaust is able to be then used for CO2 fertigation, either ducted directly to the glasshouse, or sent to hot water boilers as combustion air for further enriching CO2 concentration.
The turbines are currently operating some of the glasshouse off-grid, but planned to operate on grid when the project has received a grid connection agreement.