POWERING CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY

Any state-of-the-art facility requires expertise from several angles for successful, efficient execution and longevity. As an expert in agricultural settings, Fiske Electric is the leading the charge on the electrical components of a first-of-its-kind HydroGreen growing station in Carpenter, WY.

HydroGreen develops and distributes automated fodder machines that can grow animal feed in just five to six days. Once complete, the project in Carpenter will be home to 24 growing units that will supply a portion of the ration to 2,000 dairy cows.

Clifford Fiske, part-owner of Fiske Electric currently works with HydroGreen. His background with Fiske Electric offers unique insight into the electrical work involved with the project. “Fiske’s role is to connect everything for an extensive seed dispensing system,” he says.

“From seed delivery to silos outside the unit, there are a lot of controls. We’re recycling 150 thousand gallons of water per day, so there are sump pumps, chemical pumps, controls, water filtration, pressure monitoring and more.”

While there are a handful of HydroGreen growing units installed around the world, what makes this project truly unique is the building in which the machines are housed. It’s an air-supported structure with no steel, beams or columns in it. Clifford says it consumes one acre of floor space: a 52,000 square foot building with a 67-foot-high ceiling supported by air.

“We did that because there was a steel shortage at the time, and with no beams we have a clear span – nothing to interfere,” Clifford says. “The driving factor was that the cost was less than half of what it would have been to build a steel building. It was available and steel was not – it would have taken a year to get.”

As a first-of-its-kind project, it’s Fiske Electric’s first go on HydroGreen machines in an air-supported structure. But that doesn’t mean the work itself is new to Fiske’s seasoned experts. Fiske electricians are drawing from decades of experience to make this project a success.