Save up to 4000 euros on storage costs

A survey conducted in March 2024 during the webinar on storage shows that more than 75% of arable farmers are looking for opportunities to further optimize energy matters.

In concrete terms, more than 55% are looking for ways to make better use of self-generated energy. Around 10% of arable farmers are waiting for a new (heavier) connection and another 10% are considering storing energy on the farm. The underlying causes are known. The 2022 energy crisis, grid congestion in large parts of the country and the costs that energy suppliers currently charge for returning energy are creating a different view of energy matters.

Storing and sorting bulk consumers on arable farm
The largest consumers of electrical energy on the arable farm are fans, mechanical cooling and sorting installations. In order to optimise energy consumption, the storage and processing lines are therefore the items where the most profit can basically be made. However, research by WUR into energy and agriculture from 2019 also indicates that 'the weeks in which the energy demand for product storage plays a role, do not correspond well with a solar energy production curve'. In other words: the largest part of the storage and sorting period falls in the winter period when the sun provides little energy. Especially in the period of drying and cooling there are opportunities to use energy smartly. However, these are also the moments where the basis is laid for the quality of the product to be stored in the rest of the storage period. In previous practical research, 'Smart and cost-saving storage' by PPO, it was already indicated that there is a factor of 5 difference in the amount of energy used per ton of product between arable farmers in storage. This means that it can be very interesting for an individual grower to take a critical look at the energy management on the farm.

Steering on quality or costs?
In storage, opportunities for energy saving are mainly at peak times. The possibilities for this depend on the company. The storage computers are mainly focused on maintaining the quality of the stored product. The main objective of the regulation is to create those storage conditions in which bacteria and fungi have no chance and weight loss is minimal. Practical research has shown that storage losses have a greater impact on the financial result than the costs of energy consumption. In fact, this still applies now, but because energy costs can vary enormously in the current era (even to negative prices), the need to deal with this in a smart way is very clear.

Automated savings in storage
To make the feasibility of these savings concrete, we can take the energy costs of a shed with 1.000 tons of consumption potatoes that are stored for around eight months as an example. At an all-in energy price of €0,20 per kWh, the total storage period costs €10.750 in energy for ventilation and cooling (€1,1 ct/kg). Looking at it in a little more detail, 5% of these energy costs are for the wound healing/drying storage phase, 20% for the cooling phase and 75% for the storage phase. The wound healing/drying phase is a phase that cannot be cut back on from a quality perspective. The cooling phase still takes place in a period in which solar panels can still generate a fair amount of energy. By choosing mechanical cooling during the cooling phase during the day, instead of at night with outside air ventilation, the product reaches the right temperature sooner and self-generated energy is used usefully. By automating this with an energy management system based on the weather forecast, up to 40% (€850) can be saved during the cooling process. This saving can also be achieved in the storage phase, which then lasts for about six months. A 40% saving over that period results in a saving of approximately €3.270. During the total storage period, energy costs can be reduced in this way by approximately €4.400 to €6.600. Want to know more about energy management? Vision Control | Intelligent Storage Computer | Tolsma-Grisnich (tolsmagrisnich.com)