With over 20,000 LED lights, another large vertical farm is born in Europe

The first phase of construction for one of Europe's largest indoor vertical farms is now complete.Danish startup Nordic Harvest partnered with Taiwan-based vertical agriculture technology company YesHealth Group (Yuanxian Group, Taoyuan City, Taiwan) to establish this vertical farm, located in the suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark.

These plants grow on 14 stacked shelves, covering an area of 7,000 square meters (total area over 75,000 square feet). They rely entirely on hydroponics, LED lights, and a carefully controlled indoor environment to cultivate produce, eliminating the need for pesticides. The main crops include lettuce, kale, spinach, basil, and cilantro.

The farm uses 100% wind power (Denmark is one of the countries with the highest proportion of wind energy in the world), achieves automated sowing through robots, thereby reducing labor costs and achieving complete carbon neutrality.

Robots will also patrol the entire vertical farm to monitor crop growth.

It is reported that the vertical farm adopts Yuanxian Group's patented technologies, including robotics, hydroponic cultivation technology, liquid microbial fertilizer formulations, LED lighting technology, and intelligent software for growing leafy vegetables.

In terms of LED, the facility uses over 20,000 LED lights in total, powered by wind energy. Additionally, this vertical farm in Denmark uses one liter of water per kilogram of produce, which is significantly less than field irrigation. Nordic Harvest will manage the farm operations locally.

From seed to full maturity, each crop takes approximately 2-3 weeks, which means an estimated 15 harvests per year. Nordic Harvest states that the first harvest has already been reserved for commercial kitchens, and crops grown at the farm are expected to appear in supermarkets in early 2021. By the first quarter of 2021, the farm will have harvested approximately 200 tons of produce. By the end of 2021, it will be able to supply 1,000 tons of vegetables and herbs, with a cultivation area equivalent to a large football field.

It is reported that in 2018, Source Fresh formed a partnership with Nordic Harvest, and construction began this April. According to reports, many regions in Europe have long winters and high demand for fresh vegetables, while relying on agricultural imports. Therefore, Source Fresh officially entered the Nordic market with Denmark as its entry point.

源鲜计划未来几年扩大垂直农场的全球化布局。该公司表示，这是公司国际扩张的关键里程碑，是在欧洲、亚洲以及中东和北非地区建立更多垂直农场的第一步，符合公司精心规划的全球扩张布局。源鲜使用智能软件收集的数据来为这些地区未来的垂直农场建设提供参考信息。

Regarding the current pandemic crisis, Yuanxian stated that business expansion has been inconvenient due to the impact of the epidemic. However, consumers and food-related companies are placing greater emphasis on agricultural production systems focused on "local production" and "food safety," leading to an increasing number of companies from around the world proactively reaching out for negotiations.

Nordic Harvest expects that this innovative approach and similar large-scale facilities are highly likely to have a significant impact on the global supply of fresh food. Nordic Harvest also claims that a vertical farming network covering 20 football fields could grow enough leafy greens for the entire country of Denmark.