David Duguid given tour as salmon farmer looks to “net-zero food production”.
Scottish Sea Farms (SSF) and green energy partner AMP Clean Energy hosted a visit from UK Government Minister for Scotland David Duguid on Thursday.
The MP was given a one-hour tour of the salmon farmers’ GBP 58 million Barcaldine Hatchery near Oban in Argyll and Bute, SSF wrote in a press release.
On show was the facility’s recirculating aquaculture system (RAS). Barcaldine is specially designed to give salmon farmers much greater control over the key growth factors of water quality, oxygen levels, temperature, speed of flow and light.
Amongst the green technologies in operation was the hatchery’s 600kw biomass energy system, thought to deliver the biggest CO2 savings of any renewable heat source.
Owned, installed and maintained by AMP Clean Energy, the system uses locally sourced wood chip to provide the 17,500 sqm building with much of its heat and hot water, saving 683 tonnes of carbon a year compared with using oil.
“I’ve been so impressed at the green approach of this state-of-the-art facility. Scottish Sea Farms’ water-saving and waste-recycling measures, coupled with the use of AMP Clean Energy’s environmentally sound biomass heating system, prove that it is possible to forge ahead in innovation to sustain the sector while still meeting our net-zero objectives,” said Minister Duguid.
“The UK Government has ambitious climate commitments and it’s by embracing measures such as these and accelerating decarbonisation that industry will be future-proofed to protect and create jobs,” he added.
“We’re proud to have worked in partnership with Scottish Sea Farms to fund, develop, own and operate a brand new low carbon heat installation at their Barcaldine Hatchery. This sustainable solution is a perfect example of how biomass heat can support net-zero food production,” said AMP Clean Energy head of asset services Bruno Berardelli.
AMP Clean Energy offers decarbonisation as a service and is wholly owned by funds managed by Asterion Industrial who have access to over EUR 1.1 billion of capital available to be deployed into clean energy projects.
