The power of the sun
Marginpar’s farm locations have been carefully selected. Our seven Kenyan farms and three production locations in Ethiopia are situated so close to the equator that they get 12 hours of sunlight every day, year-round. The sun is by far the most important source of energy for life on earth. And so, this drastically reduces the need for other energy sources to grow our flowers. Of course there are processes that require additional energy at our farms, but we use it consciously. We work hard to make our operations more energy efficient and to increase the production of our own electricity.
Green electricity
The electricity that we use is mostly from the grid. That might sound unfavourable, but did you know that electricity from the grid in Kenya and Ethiopia is super green? Approximately 90% of Kenya’s electricity is generated from renewable energy sources (geothermal, hydro, wind and solar). Ethiopia is nearing 100% renewable energy on the grid, with hydropower as the biggest contributor, followed by wind and thermal sources. In addition to this, we are also producing our own electricity at most of our Kenyan farms with solar PV systems.
Optimising energy use
Then, it’s a matter of optimising the use of electricity at our farms. Each farm in Kenya has an Energy Team to look at ways in which overall energy use at the farm can be reduced without affecting productivity.
Smart lighting
We approach this on every scale, big or small. For instance, some crops require more than 12 hours of light, like Hypericum. More than 50% of our lighting is now done by LEDs, and we are moving fast to bring this to 100%. LEDs use 50-75% less electricity for the same light output than traditional lights. On top of that, they have a much longer lifespan, and are low-maintenance. We closely monitor the planting programme and match the light exposure to the stage the plants are in. This way, no electricity is wasted on plants that do not need additional light hours.
Efficient water pumping practices
Another process that requires energy is pumping water, either from lagoons (where we store water during the wet season) or boreholes. By collecting as much water as possible (direct rainfall runoff and river floodwater) and using water as efficiently as possible, we save around 35% on electricity for water pumping! We also aim to do as much pumping as possible on solar power (i.e. during the day).
For 35 years, Marginpar has been dedicated to crafting the most exceptional summer flowers. We were among the first to introduce fresh cut flowers from Africa to the Dutch flower auctions. We produce 300 million stems a year, on 460 hectares of production land.
