Serenity Farms
Regenerative farming community integrating food, energy, and habitat
Serenity Farms is a fully self-sufficient greenhouse facility designed to produce fresh food profitably in arid environments. At 110 hectares, it is the world's largest greenhouse complex. The facility sources seawater, runs entirely on solar energy, and provides fresh fruit and vegetables to over 180,000 people. The first site is on Saudi Arabia's west coast, developed with Reza Investment Company. It reduces aquifer depletion, eliminates the need for air-freighted produce, and creates long-term sustainable employment in a region preparing for a post-oil economy.
The Problem
Saudi Arabia has depleted over 80% of its aquifer reserves in the last 50 years. The country relies on expensive, carbon-intensive air freight for fresh produce, while local agriculture is constrained by water scarcity and extreme heat. Growing populations and Vision 2030's mandate to build a non-oil economy demanded a scalable, profitable model for domestic food production in arid conditions. Except developed an advanced simulation tool to model the economic feasibility of large-scale food production in desert environments before a single structure was built.Process
Advanced simulation before design
Except created a simulation tool integrating performance specifications for climate control, water treatment, solar energy production, and nutrient mixing technologies. This tool modeled economic feasibility and resource requirements at scale before committing to design decisions.Seawater sourcing and solar integration
The facility sources seawater rather than depleting aquifers and converts it on-site for irrigation. Solar energy powers all operations. This combination makes the facility independent of two of the region's most constrained resources: freshwater and fossil fuel.Co-creation with local knowledge
Except worked through a co-creation process with Reza Investment Company, integrating local geographic, economic, and technological knowledge to develop solutions calibrated to the specific constraints of the Saudi west coast site.Outcomes
- People fed
- 180,000+
- With fresh fruit and vegetables
- Greenhouse area
- 110 ha
- World's largest greenhouse complex
- Energy source
- 100% solar
- Fully off-grid energy supply
- Aquifer use
- Zero
- Seawater sourcing only
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