THE LINE OF GRANTS FOR ITS IMPLEMENTATION ALSO BENEFITS THE CANARY ISLANDS.

The Almeria company ICC Engineering and Calculation Center, belonging to Grupo Jarquil, has become the first Spanish company to apply the cogeneration system in greenhouses, producing heating for them and selling energy. Cogeneration is a process of generating thermal and electrical energy that was applied to productions under plastic for the first time in Almería.

The system consists of an engine that uses natural gas as fuel that, with the heat that comes from the cooling of this and the exhaust gases, heats the water required for heating the greenhouse.

On the other hand, This system allows the exhaust gases to be fully purified and once cooled, they are injected into the greenhouse, acting as fertilizer for crops since CO2 and the sun facilitate photosynthesis in the plant..

With the joint use of heating and CO2 injection, Optimal conditions are obtained by generating a microclimate throughout the season that translates into an increase in production and an increase in quality.. Finally, the cogeneration engine is coupled with an alternator that produces electrical energy that is sold to the utility company, assuming one more income for the farmer.

In this way, ICC Engineering and Calculation Center is placed at the head of Spain, among others, in a segment as important for the future as cogeneration applied to cultivation under plastic. The novelty of this system is that it allows to control the temperature and humidity of the greenhouses, and thus create a microclimate as close as possible to the biological conditions of the cultivar and, thus, get the best performance.

The first producer to implement this new system in the Peninsula was Luis Andújar, farmer from La Cañada, who recently received an award for best farmer, on a three-hectare farm, in which a motor has been installed 1 megawatt generating 1000 kilowatts per hour. That motor carries, In addition, an alternator through which electrical energy is produced that is sold to Endesa produced under the Special Regime.

ICC has also designed this pioneering system on a farm of more than 20 hectares of Antas, from the company Cualin Quality, with two engines 4 megawatts it produces 8.000 kilowatts per hour. Similar installations have also been carried out in Jaén.

Faced with the good Almeria experience, this system is already being extended to the neighboring region. In Murcia the first installation of this type is being carried out for ‘Agriculture and Export’ in a multi-tunnel greenhouse farm of 6 hectares that produce tomatoes and peppers and that will generate 2.000 kilowatts per hour.

In addition, ICC and in reference to the cost that this type of facilities can entail, explains that during the month of January it will be possible to access a new line of subsidies that can cover up to 50% of the installation of cogeneration plants for tomato greenhouses in the communities of Andalusia, Valencia, Murcia and the Canary Islands. These grants are already approved in Valencia and Murcia and are now expected to reach Almería.

The installation of these systems supposes, In addition, for farmers a greater capacity for competitiveness compared to foreign countries. An example of the good performance of this type of plant is in the Netherlands, where there is a significant number of them and they produce more than 30% of the country's electrical energy through cogeneration in greenhouses.