On-Site Power

CPower, Scale Microgrid partnering on indoor farming project

CPower, Scale Microgrid partnering on indoor farming project

A new, multi-resource hybrid microgrid will be installed to power a large indoor agriculture operation in Pennsylvania.

CPower Energy Management will partner with Scale Microgrid Solutions to deliver energy management and distributed energy resources (DER) for commercial farming company Fifth Season. The project represents CPower’s expansion into the indoor agriculture sector.

Scale Microgrid Solutions will integrate DER assets including solar PV panels, lithium-ion batteries, a natural gas generator and demand response. CPower will then leverage market-based insights to optimize and facilitate the microgrid’s participation in several local PJM Interconnection programs.

POWERGEN+ next week: CPower, Scale Microgrid teaming up with Amply Power on new session

Registration for POWERGEN+ is free and sessions will be available both live and on demand for a year.

“Indoor agriculture and vertical farming innovators like Fifth Season are always looking for ways to become more innovative and efficient in their business operations and production,” said Mathew Sachs, senior vice president — strategy and business development, CPower. “Our work with Scale allows Fifth Season to unlock value from their distributed energy resources, ensuring reliability and achieving energy resilience, without disrupting their operations.”

Fifth Season’s operations in Braddock, Pennsylvania grows non-genetically modified produce in pesticide-free biodomes. Technologies include robotics and autonomous operations. The operations use less land and less water than traditional farming, according to the company.

Nationwide, CPower manages more than 4.3 GW of customer capacity, including several resources within the generation mix. Its energy management solutions help reduce more than 7,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually.