Food production is already being affected by climate change, a trend that is expected to intensify in the years ahead, including in Norway. Sustainable production of fruit and vegetables is an important approach for securing the food supply for a growing global population and for meeting consumer demands for nutritious food. Greenhouses provide optimal growing conditions and shield crops from external threats such as extreme weather, while also protecting against various pests. This enables continuous production under carefully controlled conditions, while production capacity per square meter can be significantly increased. Greenhouses can therefore play a crucial role in ensuring food supply security, both nationally and globally.
HybriGrowth – Hybrid energy-efficient farming by combined greenhouse and vertical growth is a collaborative project between SINTEF Energy, SINTEF Ocean, SINTEF Industry, the Norwegian Horticultural Association, Viken Gartneri at Frosta, and Snarum Gartneri in Lier. The project's main goal is to develop a new hybrid, energy-efficient greenhouse concept that combines vertical and traditional greenhouse production, as well as to explore the potential for using hybrid greenhouses in Norway.
The growers involved in the project, Viken Gartneri and Snarum Gartneri, have installed vertical growing systems in combination with their traditional greenhouse facilities. Vertical production means that plants are grown in vertical layers, where sunlight is replaced with LED lighting and advanced climate control helps create optimal growing conditions. In the hybrid concept, young plants grow for a few weeks in the vertical facility before being transferred to the traditional greenhouse (the horizontal section) for main growth and final maturation. The advantage of this is that the plants grow in a more controlled environment when they are young and most vulnerable. Then, during the main growth phase in the horizontal section, they get better access to light, essential nutrients, and CO2, which is important for plant development at this stage.
The hybrid greenhouse facilities at Frosta and in Lier are unique in Norway, and the concept has only been tested and analyzed to a limited extent internationally. Viken Gartneri and Snarum Gartneri will serve as case studies in the project. The biggest challenge today is that the LED lights in the vertical section generate large amounts of heat, which requires both efficient cooling and improved utilization of the excess heat. Operational data from the hybrid greenhouses, including temperatures, humidity, and light conditions, will be thoroughly modeled and analyzed. Using advanced data models and analytical methods, the goal is to identify the best possible strategies for maximizing the use of excess heat from the vertical section to heat the traditional greenhouse.
Systems using integrated heat pumps will be studied, along with the possibility of thermal energy storage for more balanced energy use in the hybrid greenhouses. This will lead to optimized operation and reduced energy use, along with lower CO2 emissions due to reduced use of propane boilers for heating. The potential for more efficient lighting solutions in the horizontal section and its effect on the energy balance will also be investigated and analyzed. The goal is to demonstrate a sustainable concept for increased productivity and profitability in Norwegian greenhouses through energy-efficient operation, and optimized control of growing conditions.