THE only thing brighter than the sun shining on Sundrop Farms’ official opening ceremony last week was the future it has with Port Augusta.
The official ribbon-cutting took place at the 20 hectare greenhouse which will create 15,000 tonnes of pesticide-free, carbon neutral tomatoes a year.
The $200 million facility saw about 400 jobs created during construction and 200 remain currently.
The produce will be sold in about 500 Coles Supermarket stores across South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria.
South Australian premier Jay Weatherill said there couldn’t be a greater example of the ‘past versus the future’.
“Just behind us we have an old coal fired power station which is closed and in the foreground we have a world-leading solar agricultural project,” he said.
“It is a magnificent example of the South Australian economy on the back of something we’ve always had an enormous strength in – premium food grown in a clean environment.”
Mr Weatherill congratulated Port Augusta for being ‘enthusiastic advocates’ in embracing this technology despite being one of the state’s regions hardest hit by the closure of coal-fired power stations.
The farm uses a state-of-the-art 115 metre-high solar tower to produce energy to power the plant growing systems and to heat and cool the greenhouses as required.
It has 23,000 mirrors (2m x 1m) pointed at it. Water comes from the Spencer Gulf, and is desalinated using a cutting-edge thermal desalination plant.
Sundrop Farms CEO Philipp Saumweber said the last seven years has been an “incredible journey”.
“We started up in Port Augusta and we’ve been embraced by the community,” he said.
“A lot of our team members live here and lived here in the early days so we make very personal connections with people in Port Augusta and the Upper Spencer Gulf Region.
“So seeing so many familiar faces who are part of the team today here in Port Augusta is tremendously rewarding.”
Mr Saumweber said Port Augusta ‘absolutely’ has a future in renewable energy.
Mr Weatherill said the Sundrop Farms gives credence to building Solar Thermal technology in Port Augusta.
“I think this gives credence to any form of nonrenewable energy project,” he said.
“I think it demonstrates they can be successful and that’s why we’re inviting the proponents of solar thermal to bid for South Australia’s energy needs that we put out to tender.”
Coles merchandise director, Chris Nicholas, said the partnership with Sundrop will help Coles to satisfy the increasing demand for truss tomatoes and provide customers with great quality Australian-grown product all year round.
“Tomatoes are one of the most popular items for Australian families and continue to grow in popularity,” Mr Nicholas said.
“Our 10-year partnership with Sundrop Farms is the longest-term contract we have ever signed for fresh produce and is testament to the confidence we have in the Sundrop team.
“By growing tomatoes commercially with sunlight and seawater in a part of the world where tomatoes would not normally be grown, Sundrop is redefining sustainable horticulture in Australia.”