More than 100 jobs will be created by a South Holland company at the forefront of providing alternative, clean energy.
Pioneering work at the family-run business could help spark a shift to using hydrogen as fuel for commercial, agricultural and marine engines.
A planning application has been submitted for a met mast to monitor weather conditions at Gedney Drove End for up to 18 months.
Along with wind-generated power and solar array, the farm will also create hydrogen which can be used to fuel vehicles which can’t run on electric, such as tractors, heavy plant and HGVs.
The Jepco farm, run by Stuart Piccaver, will generate energy for itself and also to sell back to the grid.
Approval has already been granted for huge glasshouses to grow crops using hydroponics, and the next phase of the long-term project will be the creation of net zero power supplies.
The national grid is struggling to supply commercial-users as there isn’t enough capacity nationally, so the company is aiming to be 90 per cent self-sufficient.
“We can add extra resilience in supplying our supermarkets. There is very little capacity on the grid, the infrastructure has not been updated to cope with the extra demand,” said Charlie Clay of specialist power company Vectre which has applied for permission to site the 140m-high mast.
“We aim to be 90 per cent off-grid,” said Mr Clay.
Water from the glasshouses can be used to create hydrogen as a fuel source. Large vehicles are not suitable to run on electric motors, specially in rural areas where the grid is already at capacity.
Just a few days after a massive £2bn scheme was announced to create hydro-electric and hydrogen power with a barrier across The Wash, the Gedney Marsh scheme is the second major green initiative for the area.
South Holland and The Wash area is set to be at the forefront for the technology, bringing jobs and economic benefits to the area.
“On the project there will be approximately 120 jobs in total. Of these, 37 would be highly skilled, high value jobs,” said Mr Piccaver.
“The hi-tech facilities create a significantly higher ration of highly skilled roles that field crops, and more specialist. The roles are also permanent,” he added.
The electrolyser and hydrogen dispenser needed to create the emission-free fuel offer skilled roles among others.
“The met mast is proposed as part of the application for the electrolysis, wind and PV at Jepco, including the repowering of Red House Wind Farm,” says a document with the application.
Jepco has been looking to the future in aiming to produce lettuce all year in a sustainable and low carbon development.
The company was praised in the summer for its consultation over a proposed new access road.
