Glasgow-based Heliex Power (www.heliexpower.com) has
won its first order from the Netherlands, with the installation of its innovative technology on an ambitious mushroom farm.

Its GenSet has been commissioned by Wattplant BV as part of a clean-energy project at ‘t Voske farm — located in Uden (between Eindhoven and Nijmegen).

Already chemical-free, the estate is aiming to become the world’s first grower with an energy-neutral and climate-neutral nursery.

Working with a steam-raising biomass boiler, the Heliex system will generate 160kW of low-cost electricity; it will also produce heat at the right temperature for growing mushrooms, which thrive in moist and humid conditions.

The residual heat from the GenSet will be used to warm the farm’s sheds, as well as to cool them (via an absorption heater) when necessary. A portion of the heat will also be sold to a strawberry farm next door.

The electricity, eligible for the Dutch feed-in tariff, will be used on-site for the running of the farm, which requires 700,000kWh annually.

Most of the electrical demand will be met by the Heliex GenSet, with payback on the system expected in less than three years.

Chris Armitage, chief executive of Heliex Power, said: “The farm tried other power generation systems for its energy needs, but they didn’t deliver the expected results.

"Our GenSet proved ideal for generating the low-cost low-carbon electricity required, along with residual heat at the right temperature.”