Taylor Farms moves toward energy independence

Taylor Farms is completing the installation 2MW of solar power at its facility in San Juan Bautista, California, which will be combined with 6MW of fuel cells from Bloom Energy and a 2MW/4MWh battery into a microgrid designed to power the entire 450,000 sq. ft. facility.

Taylor Farms, a producer of healthy fresh foods, has partnered with Bloom Energy and Concept Clean Energy to install a microgrid capable of taking one of their California food processing facilities completely off the traditional energy grid. The energy leaders plan to combine six megawatts (MW) of Bloom fuel cells, 2MW of solar power from Concept Clean Energy and a 2MW/4MWh battery into a microgrid that is designed to power the entire 450,000 sq. ft. facility in San Juan Bautista, California.

Taylor Farms’ commitment to providing healthy fresh foods year-round to customers and consumers cannot be disrupted amid energy reliability challenges. This collaboration combines the strength of each technology – fuel cells’ ability to generate resilient, always-on power, daytime power generation from solar and energy storage benefits from batteries ― to fulfill the facility’s 24/7 power needs completely, independently and cost-effectively. While microgrids are often implemented only to provide power to critical loads in the event of outages, Taylor Farms seeks to prove that companies can, with partners like Bloom Energy, Ameresco and Concept Clean Energy, take control of all their energy needs and establish price and power predictability.

“We are looking forward to the energy stability this will provide our San Juan Bautista, California facility,” said Bruce Taylor, chairman and CEO, Taylor Farms. “Fresh food reliability is essential for our customers and it’s more critical than ever to provide quality, fresh foods to North Americans.”

Per the California Independent System Operator, it is estimated that the state faces an energy capacity shortfall of 1,700MW, which could be as high as 5,000MW if California is hit with multiple extreme events at the same time, such as wildfires and heat waves. With the flexibility to leverage the right technology for the right application, companies can now avoid relying on strained power grids, as Bloom Energy and Ameresco aim to provide always-on power for Taylor Farms.

This journey builds on Taylor Farms’ relationship with Bloom Energy and is intended to allow the produce distributor to explore disconnecting from the regional power grid amid energy price escalations and reliability challenges.