Europe’s largest vertical farm completes first phase

YesHealth Group and Nordic Harvest have completed the first phase of Europe’s largest vertical farm, a 14-storey, 7,000sqm facility in Copenhagen Markets, on the outskirts of Denmark’s capital.

In a statement, the companies explain that the facility will be Europe’s largest and most efficient indoor vertical farm, featuring YesHealth Group proprietary technologies, robotics, hydroponics, and arrays of more than 20,000 LEDs.

The project will have smart software installed for the processing of more than 5,000 individual data points, all of which will be integrated with Nordic Harvest’s design of process flow and packaging.

Working in partnership, YesHealth Group and Nordic Harvest began constructing the vertical farm in April. Production is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2021. 

Profits are projected within the first year, making this vertical farm a model of feasibility for the industry at large, the statement adds. Financial projections are based on a scale-up model, which will see the vertical farm expand from an initial 200-tonne annual capacity to a massive 1,000-tonne annual capacity during Q4 2021.

“Adding to our technology that we’ve developed in-house over the past decade, YesHealth Group will now be able to harness real-world data from Denmark with its unique climate and environment and improve our technology at an even greater speed and efficiency,” says Tsai Wen-Chin, chairman of YesHealth Group.

Jesper Hansen, COO of YesHealthGroup adds that the project is a crucial step forwards for the group’s expansion into Europe, and that the move is in line with the company’s global expansion plan.

“We have carefully mapped out (the global expansion plan) for the coming years. YesHealth Group has industry leading technology and operational know-how, and we’re selecting more regional partners with local market expertise like Nordic Harvest,” Hansen explains.

“Our team has worked tirelessly over the past eight months to bring this Copenhagen vertical farm into reality,” adds Stella Tsai, project manager at YesHealth Group. “It’s a valuable experience that we’ll take forward into future projects.”

Kevin Lin, director of Business Development at YesHealth Group, said completion of phase one of this vertical farm represents a first step towards constructing more vertical farms across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East and North African region.