Medical marijuana company Aurora plans 600,000 square-foot Alberta greenhouse
by Canadian Manufacturing.com Staff
Preparing for Canadian cannabis boom, company anticipates opening new, largely automated site by summer 2018
VANCOUVER—Aurora Cannabis Inc. has finalized plans to build an enormous new automated greenhouse in Alberta.
The medical marijuana company said Aug. 23 it has completed the design and tender process for the three-phase, 600,000 square-foot project and locked in several contracts with greenhouse builders and equipment suppliers.
“The Canadian cannabis market is expected to experience a phenomenal increase in demand,” the company’s CEO, Terry Booth, said. “Upon completion of this facility, Aurora will be prepared for this demand.”
A massive step up from the company’s current 55,200 square-foot site north of Calgary, the new greenhouse will be capable of producing more than 70,000 kilograms of medical-grade cannabis annually.
Vancouver-based Aurora said the facility will include automation wherever possible—from conveyers and robotic “grow benches” to remote plant monitoring and irrigation systems.
“We have been working with our partners for a considerable amount of time to get all the details right, and believe that with this unique combination of automation and cannabis production technologies, we will be raising the Aurora Standard even higher in terms of sustainability, cannabis product quality, production consistency and production costs,” Booth added.
The company expects the new site to be fully-operational by summer 2018.
