A highlight of the 2024 Renewables in Agriculture Conference was the presentation by Mike Casey about the electrification of his 9,300-tree cherry orchard in Central Otago, New Zealand. The farm claims to be the world’s first 100% electric, zero fossil fuel orchard.

Mike outlined how he electrified key infrastructure on the farm and powered it with renewables, resulting in an electricity bill of around $NZ 5,000 per year which they aim to reduce to $0.

Overall, 20 appliances and machines across the farm have been electrified including pumps and hot water systems. Mike outlined the highlights:

• Frost Fighting Fans: Mike replaced two 30kW diesel fans with electric fans that operate around 210 hours per year.
• Road Vehicle: purchase of electric passenger vehicles for family and business travel which are charged at the farm.
• Electric Tractor: the farm was the first to import a 40HP (50HP equivalent) tractor, with around 350 hours per year of run time.
• Electric Sprayer: Mike developed his own electric sprayer that was able to utilise power from the electric tractor’s battery, replacing the original sprayer that used the PTO from the diesel tractor (and using 85% less energy for spraying).
• Solar and Batteries: The farm then installed a 23kW solar PV system and 105 kWh battery storage system.

Read more about the farms’ electrification at the farm website here.

More detail about his overall energy consumption and generation is available in a recent post here.

Find more on-farm energy efficiency case studies here.