Masdar City launches first indoor vertical farm

Masdar City has partnered with Alesca Technologies, an agricultural technology company, to launch the city’s first indoor vertical farm.

Housed in repurposed shipping containers near Masdar City’s Eco-Plaza, the farm features two full‐size commercial farming containers that will generate upwards of 650kg of leafy greens per month all year round for a farm‐to-fork experience.

The first container is fully operational, with plans to expand to the second in the coming year.

The farm uses automated equipment and AI software to grow multiple varieties of leafy greens, lettuce and herbs that are fresh, free of harmful chemicals, and ready to eat.

Sebastien Miller, Masdar City’s manager of public realm, said. “We’re glad to be partnering with a company like Alesca, which is known as a test bed for the localisation of food production and producing high-quality food, both of which play a role in addressing food security and related climate change challenges.”

Benefits of the indoor vertical farm in Masdar City

The vertical farm uses 90-95 per cent less water than conventional farms.

The farm’s highly controlled and automated monitoring process helps maximise food production and minimise food waste.

Masdar City is educating the community about the potential of indoor vertical farming, which makes fresh, post-organic produce available locally while reducing carbon emissions related to the supply chain.

The Alesca indoor vertical farm also showcases the potential of multi-functional land use, which is particularly important in high-density cities.

“Using urban land for more than one purpose reduces cost, makes better use of limited space, and enhances urban resilience,” added Miller. “In the case of a vertical farm, the greenery can also contribute to improved air quality and reduced urban heat island effect.”

Alesca Technologies is part of Masdar City’s growing agri-tech cluster, which also includes other startups such as Circa Biotech, which uses black soldier flies to turn food waste into organic animal feed and other products, and HydroArtPod, which is bringing organic vertical farming into homes.

In other news, in November last year, Masdar City completed construction on the region’s first net-zero energy commercial building, called NZ1.

The building was largely constructed with locally sourced, sustainable materials, with around 90 per cent of construction waste diverted from landfills.

NZ1 is designed to consume 53 per cent less energy than an equivalent conventional building. On-site solar panels will generate the building’s annual energy needs, making it ‘net-zero’ energy. Any excess energy produced will be fed into the Abu Dhabi electric grid.