Norwegian arm of Danish recirculating aquaculture system nets deal, its largest facility, for salmon giant.
In a press release, Billund Aquaculture writes that Mowi will significantly increase its smolt production at Haukå outside Florø, Western Norway.
Billund Aquaculture Norway will be working on the contract in cooperation with the construction company Veidekke. The delivery from the two includes a complete facility.
“This is a milestone in our history. For it will be the largest facility we will deliver since its inception in 2017,” said Billund Aquaculture Norway sales director/CTO Marius Hægh.
The company is already engaged at Haukå, and is in the final stages of the installation of a new RAS facility for the fry department. This new and far larger supply agreement includes RAS, piping facilty, electrical, energy plant, and feed plant etc.
At Haukå there will be two departments, each with vessel volume of approximately 5,000 m³ and feed capacity of 4,400 kg. Both departments use moving bed biofilm reactors (MBBR) for treating wastewater.
Mowi’s freshwater production manager for the region, John-Ivar Sætre said: “The choice of cleaning method depends on several factors such as the consumption of water and experiences from other facilities and more. And here, in our judgment, we are best served by “moving Bed” – also in terms of continuity associated with existing installations”.
The new facility is also being built to use brackish water with salinity up to 20 per-ml. “It’s not applicable now,” said Sætre. “But in the long term, it may be desirable to use seawater. And then we have to take into account, among other things, a material choice that can withstand salt”.
The permit covers the production of 7.5 million fish annually. This means an increase from about 400 tonnes to 1,500 tonnes-of-fish a year. An increase in the weight of the smolt up to 300 grams before it leaves a land-based facilty means a shorter stay in the sea. This also significantly reduces the risk of sea lice.
Construction of this phase 2 began in September. The projects’ groundwork and plumbing are in full swing, and it all will be ready to start in March 2022.
