From battling harmonics to achieving high efficiency in a greenhouse facility

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The Mildura factory in Australia produces and cultivates cannabis plants for medicinal and industrial uses. It involves careful cultivation of cannabis plants in controlled environments, such as indoor grow facilities or outdoor farms. Factors such as lighting, temperature, humidity, and nutrient levels are carefully managed to optimize plant growth and maximize yield.

After harvesting, the plants undergo processing, which may involve drying, curing, trimming, and extraction of cannabinoids and other compounds. The production of cannabis requires adherence to legal regulations and quality control standards to ensure product safety and consistency.

Renowned as one of Australia’s forefront facilities for cultivating and producing medicinal cannabis, the Mildura site distinguishes itself through its advanced technology and expansive scale. It uses a closed system microclimate-controlled glasshouse, which harnesses innovative techniques to optimize the growth cycles of plants.

Challenges at the customer’s facility

Indoor cultivation of cannabis plants heavily relies on environmental conditions, necessitating specific considerations in the design of mechanical systems within the facility. These systems encompass heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), lighting arrangements, automation, and other electrical infrastructure.

Greenhouse lights are a typical source of high harmonic currents, usually causing a harmonic spectrum with notable amounts of 3^rd, 5^th, and 7^th harmonic components. The presence of third harmonics (harmonic orders divisible by three) in the network puts the electrical system and the whole facility at risk because they cause high currents, and therefore overheating, in the neutral wire.

The primary objective was to ensure that the harmonics generated by the numerous growth lights and other electronically regulated equipment would not create any issues within the facility. Additionally, minimizing energy consumption was a crucial aspect to reduce overall energy costs.

Our Merus^® Solution

The optimal power quality solution that was found for this indoor growth facility was a combination of dynamic active harmonic filtering and traditional Power Factor Correction -equipment (filter capacitor bank). The combination of an active harmonic filter and a filter capacitor bank enables cost-effective power factor improvement, while successfully mitigating the harmonic currents to an acceptable level. To accomplish acceptable power quality levels, the facility operator selected Merus Power to deliver a Merus^® HPQ-Hybrid Power Quality Compensator. This solution offered selectable filtering and protection features, ensuring reliable harmonic reduction and power factor improvement capabilities. The availability of local engineering support from our partner Ampcontrol further enhanced the decision-making process.