HarvRESt - Harnessing the vast potential of Renewable Energy Technologies for sustainable farming

Røysland Gård, a farm in Bjerkreim, Norway, is one of four pilots in the EU project HarvRESt.

The farm performs all steps in the production of very high-quality meat products, ranging from growing animals to sales (local), butchery, and distribution of the final products.

NORCE’s contributition to the energy integration

In this pilot, NORCE contributes to the integration of various locally available energy sources in the farm, the smart operation of the energy system, and the decarbonization process of all activities at the farm.

The HarvRESt project focuses on enhancing the use of renewable energy technologies (RES) along with sustainable farming methods. This project aims to help the agricultural and food industries gain extra benefits from the integration of RES and smart operation of their energy systems, increase their energy independence and security, and reduce carbon emissions for food production.

Joint development of smart energy systems

The solutions developed in the HarvRESt project will be applied to different conditions and types of farms via pilots located at located in Italy, Denmark, Spain and Norway. NORCE is working in this project on development of Norwegian pilot, in cooperation with Grønn Gårdsenergi AS (GGE), a company owned by the farmers at Røysland Gård, Bjerkreim, located at the western coast of Norway.

GGE and NORCE will jointly develop and expand a smart energy system with integrated local renewable sources that supports the full decarbonization process of Røysland Gård farm . A thorough investigation on utilization of centralized and optimized management of the energy assets in the farm will be performed.

The Norwegian use case will manage the energy storage system interaction with the different renewable assets. Moreover, the study on the coordination with farm activities will be made to optimize available resources.

Given the interest of GGE in profiting from manure waste for biogas production and Combined Heat and Power installation, the Norwegian pilot will establish synergies with Sorigué’s HarvRESt activities as well as with the Danish pilot to explore the deployment of this technology and replication of the partner’s solutions.

Facts about HarvRESt

The HarvRESt project has been launched to address the need of enhancing the use of renewable energy technologies (RES) along with sustainable farming methods, aiming to help the agricultural and food industry reduce carbon emissions.

However, deciding how best to integrate green energy on a farm is not without its challenges. The decision is a complex one, with many factors to be taken into account. HarvRESt will therefore work on solutions that alleviate this challenge.

In total, 16 partners from Spain, Norway, Italy, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark and the Netherlands are participating in HarvRESt. See all partners here

Grønn Gårdsenergi AS has the sales of very high quality meat products as a business case.

Energy conservation plays a vital role towards the sustainable development of meat processing. Energy costs for many livestock and meat processing players represent the fourth highest operational cost.

In using organic waste material as an energy source in the process thus further avoiding the need of transport capacity and move towards a circular process. The concept of Grønn Gårdsenergi presents a paradigm-shift in farming by focusing on high quality and sustainable process.

• All required energy to be produced locally via renewables (PV, biogas, wind and maybe hydro) in connection with optimized energy efficiency
• Closed loop production by local utilisation of waste streams as feedstock (e.g. meat waste for energy production)
• Biogas plant from manure & slaughter waste
• Generate biochar from waste (together with syngas)
• CHP system to use the gas for electricity and heating
• Wood chip-based boiler

Scope of the demo:

Activities to achieve the objectives to be implemented as part of the demo:

• Installation and integration of energy generation technologies including biogas production
• Introducing energy efficiency measures into the production process without compromising the high-quality standards.
• Matching and mapping of the energy generation and production process (energy management system, production control and management)
• Monitoring and diagnostic of the entire system for continuous supervision and early detection of deviation; maybe integration of early warning (energy system and food production process)

Desired outcome and impact:

• 100% coverage of energy needs by local renewables
• Using all organic waste for biogas and energy generation
• Improved energy efficiency of the process by at least 35% relative to a traditional process
• the energy units to be in the micro grid of the farm (owned by the farmer).
• Contribute to ensuring and save and reliable food production also during times of a crisis
• Be able to contribute to electricity supply with surplus energy

Expected outcome

The concept of a closed local production chain with energy based on available local renewables will contribute to reducing carbon emissions, increasing energy security, and more efficient energy use .

These results in the farm will be achieved based on the increasing energy efficiency in the entire production process, and energy integration across the different local carriers (electricity, thermal and biogas), supported by integrated monitoring and early warning tools.

By means of reduced energy consumption and integration of local renewable energy sources and efficient waste utilization in the farm, the close to circular approach and sustainability will be achieved.

Due to the use and integration of local renewable energy sources greenhouse gasses of the production chain will be reduced significantly, with the target of almost zero emissions.

Close communication of the pilot with local, regional, and national business partners, associations, and politicians in combination with the targeted use of the pilot as a demonstrator for the holistic approach will raise the awareness about project developments and results among stakeholders and wider audiences. In addition, to increase the project dissemination workshops and seminars will be held.