Greencoat to invest in tomato greenhouses larger than the O2

Greencoat is set to invest £120.0m in a project to build giant greenhouses that could be bigger than the O2 arena in London.

Greencoat Capital, the clean energy fund behind the world-first plans, estimates that the greenhouses would produce vegetables with a quarter of the carbon footprint of regular greenhouses.

It could also create 360 permanent jobs in the areas surrounding Norfolk and Suffolk and up to 460 at peak season, it said.

The structures could eventually grow 10% of homegrown crop in the country.

The giant greenhouses would grow up to 20 tonnes of tomatoes a day using the heat from Anglian Water’s water treatment facilities.

The scheme would require the construction of the UK’s largest heat pumps, which would channel heat from warm water into the greenhouses to help speed growth.

The carbon emissions from an on-site electricity plant would also be funnelled into the greenhouses for the plants to absorb.

James Samworth, a partner at the fund, said Greencoat saw “considerable opportunity” to invest in renewable heat in the UK.

“Decarbonisation of the heating and agriculture sectors has so far been disappointingly slow despite their enormous carbon output.

“These pioneering greenhouses make a significant step towards solving both problems at scale, reducing the carbon footprint of food produce by 75 per cent compared to European equivalents and increasing UK food security.”

The concept for the greenhouse project was created by British developer, Oasthouse Ventures, to help reduce emissions from the agriculture sector.

Construction was expected to be completed in autumn 2020.