Wedoany.com Report-Mar 7, AMPYR Distributed Energy (ADE) has completed the installation of a 224kW rooftop solar array at exotic mushrooms producer Smithy Mushrooms’ Lancashire HQ.
Smithy Mushrooms director John Dorian called ADE’s model “an absolute game changer”.
The horticultural firm’s production facility has been operational for over 12 months and houses all of the company’s business including growing specialist mushroom varieties. Due to both its size and the need to maintain hot and humid growing conditions, the site’s energy use is high.
Behind the meter renewable energy generation was Smithy Mushrooms’ answer to this, looking to ADE to install rooftop solar through its power purchase agreement (PPA) model.
In partnership with specialist renewables installer Microgen Energy, ADE facilitated deployment of the 224kW rooftop solar array at no upfront cost to Smithy Mushrooms. The success of the project means a second phase has already been agreed and another 224kW array will be added to the site during the next few months.
Smithy Mushrooms director John Dorian called ADE’s model “an absolute game changer”, adding: “We’ve been able to reduce our energy spend, decarbonise our operations and highlight to our clients that their mushroom producer is taking the necessary steps to tackle Scope 2 emissions.”
Miles Thomas, chief commercial officer at ADE, echoed this, pointing out that the company’s sustainability will be “a major selling point for existing and prospective clients”.
ADE for behind-the-meter solutions
In September last year, ADE signed a £50 million strategic partnership with Oakes Energy Services, focusing on an immediate portfolio of behind-the-meter ground-mounted solar energy projects delivered by Oakes.
AMPYR Distributed Energy was launched by Singapore-headquartered AGP at the beginning of 2024, with an initial capital commitment of up to £100 million.
In a contributed blog on our sister site Current±, ADE’s CEO John Behan pointed out that install options with zero upfront cost make the technology far more accessible, the benefit of which, he explained, will be felt across the UK: The UK Warehousing Association’s (UKWA) own research identified that UK warehousing has the roof space for up to 15GW of new solar, doubling the UK’s solar PV capacity.
Because the UK’s 20% largest warehouses can provide 75 million square metres of roof space, it helps to avoid the need to develop new land equivalent to the footprint of 500,000 houses. Projected to reduce energy costs by between 40-80%, the UKWA estimates that in aggregate rooftop solar PV has the potential to save the industry £3 billon per year.
