Rose Acre Farms, partners to install agricultural microgrid

Egg producer Rose Acre Farms is joining forces with North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives and Tideland EMC to develop an agricultural microgrid that brings enhanced environmental sustainability and power grid resiliency to the farm and surrounding community.

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Vaclav Volrab I shutterstock.com
Vaclav Volrab I shutterstock.com

Egg producer Rose Acre Farms is joining forces with North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives and Tideland EMC to develop an agricultural microgrid that brings enhanced environmental sustainability and power grid resiliency to the farm and surrounding community.

“Rose Acre Farms was looking for innovative ways to increase the sustainability of its egg production,” Lisa Crawley, the Senior Public Relations Specialist at North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives, said. “This new project at Rose Acre Farms will incorporate solar panels, energy storage and a microgrid controller owned by North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives. This project is an excellent example of how electric cooperatives can partner with their consumer-members to achieve win-win scenarios.”

Microgrids are small electrical systems capable of generating their own electricity and providing power to a defined area during a power outage. The solar power generated by the microgrid should offset about a third of the energy typically consumed by the farm.

“Innovative solutions like microgrids make the electric grid more resilient, sustainable and efficient, which benefits not only the farm itself but also the local community through the delivery of affordable, reliable power. This enhanced sustainability and flexibility also aids the farm in meeting its environmental goals, maintaining affordable power costs and demonstrating its commitment to ingenuity and the pursuit of mutually beneficial solutions,” Crawley explained.

Going solar

The first step of the process involves the installation of a two megawatt (MW) solar array and a two MW battery energy storage system that allows the energy generated to be used later. This step is scheduled to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2020.

The second phase adds a microgrid controller to manage existing emergency backup diesel generators and other components to turn the project into a full microgrid.

Approximately 60% of the power currently used by Rose Acre Farms comes from emissions-free nuclear and renewables. According to the WATT Global Media Top Companies Database, Rose Acre Farms is the second largest egg company in the U.S., ranked by number of layers. As of December 2019, the company had 26.6 million laying hens.

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