‘Off-grid’ Madera cold storage to simplify logistics in Central California
Partners Origo Investments and Amond World say their new refrigerated cold storage location in the Madera Airport Industrial Park in California will include two 250,000-sq.-ft. buildings with the combined capacity to hold 100 million pounds of almonds or other freshly harvested crops for farmers and processors, simplifying logistics in the region.
Affiliates of X-Caliber Capital last month reported closing on a combined $52 million transaction for the construction of an Origo Cold Storage facility that included $35 million in funding through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Supply Chain Program.
Origo also partnered with Scale Microgrids to design, build, own, and operate an off-grid clean energy microgrid that will provide “cheaper, cleaner and more reliable” power, the company said. The system will include 1,200 kW of rooftop solar. Storage of the solar energy will be provided by a 1,200 kW/ 2,400 kWh battery system. The microgrid will include two 1,200-kW, enhanced emission-reducing controllable generators.
“Central California produces 60% of all the nuts and citrus consumed in the U.S. each year; the almond industry alone produces 80% of the world’s global supply,” said Adam Hayner, Origo Investments principal. “We believe that these new cold storage facilities will support local farmers through empowering them to more efficiently manage the sale of their crops over longer periods and ultimately to deliver higher profitability.
“To achieve this, we are building temperature-controlled storage that focuses on and prioritizes sustainability. Scale Microgrids is there to help support our commitment to the farmers.”
The facility will provide short- and long-term storage, increasing profitability, extending almond shelf life by up to two years, and decreasing hold costs, the company said.
The “off-grid” microgrid will help Origo unpredictability on the local utility grid due to energy capacity shortfalls and extreme weather events in the state. The microgrid will be able to run off of solar power and stored energy for “part of the day,” a unique aspect for a project this size, Scale Microgrids maintained.
“The developer came to us with a need for an off-grid, sustainable, and reliable power system for their facility in order to expedite their project development timeline,” said Ryan Goodman, CEO and co-founder at Scale. “The sheer number of pounds of valuable inventory in this facility makes it absolutely impossible to have anything less than 100% continuous, reliable power. Our microgrid provides them with predictable, low energy costs for the long term, clean power, and peace of mind. We both finance and operate the system, leaving Amond World with only needing to focus on the farmers and the almonds.”
Construction is underway for the two cold storage warehouses, which are expected to be fully commissioned by May 2023.
