The power of the sun
Marginpar’s farm locations have been carefully selected. Their seven Kenyan farms and three production locations in Ethiopia are situated so close to the equator that they get 12 hours of sunlight every day, year-round. The sun is by far the most important source of energy for life on earth. And so, this drastically reduces the need for other energy sources to grow flowers. Of course there are processes that require additional energy at the farms, but they use it consciously. Marginpar works hard to make their operations more energy efficient and to increase the production of their own electricity.
The electricity that they use is mostly from the grid. That might sound unfavourable, but did you know that electricity from the grid in Kenya and Ethiopia is super green? Approximately 90% of Kenya’s electricity is generated from renewable energy sources (geothermal, hydro, wind and solar). Ethiopia is nearing 100% renewable energy on the grid, with hydropower as the biggest contributor, followed by wind and thermal sources. In addition to this, Marginpar produces their own electricity at most of their Kenyan farms with solar PV systems.
Then, it’s a matter of optimising the use of electricity at the farms. Each farm in Kenya has an Energy Team to look at ways in which overall energy use at the farm can be reduced without affecting productivity.
Marginpar approaches this on every scale, big or small. For instance, some crops require more than 12 hours of light, like Hypericum. More than 50% of the lighting is now done by LEDs, and they are moving fast to bring this to 100%. LEDs use 50-75% less electricity for the same light output than traditional lights. On top of that, they have a much longer lifespan, and are low-maintenance. The farms closely monitor the planting programme and match the light exposure to the stage the plants are in. This way, no electricity is wasted on plants that do not need additional light hours.
Another process that requires energy is pumping water, either from lagoons (where water is stored during the wet season) or boreholes. By collecting as much water as possible (direct rainfall runoff and river floodwater) and using water as efficiently as possible, Marginpar saves around 35% on electricity for water pumping! They also aim to do as much pumping as possible on solar power (i.e. during the day).
Marginpar is fully committed to the journey of becoming more sustainable every day. Stay informed by following FM Group on LinkedIn.
