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Billund and Aquapurna team up to construct Europe’s first shrimp RAS

Billund Aquaculture and Aquapurna are starting construction on the inaugural module of what they claim to be Europe’s first shrimp recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) in January 2024.

The facility is located at the Sigmundshall industrial site, west of the city of Wunstorf, Germany. The choice of site transforms a former mining area into an innovation hub and is located close to one of Europe’s major seafood consumption markets. The facility is also designed to work at large scales and high densities and will serve as a large-scale proof of concept.

The joint venture expects to introduce the first shrimp larvae into the farm by the end of 2024. This specific site offers significant potential for improvement and expansion as six additional modules can be added, bringing the total to seven and covering an area of 30,000 m² (18,000 m² of which are constructible zones).

According to David Gebhard, Aquapurna’s CEO, “If the project proves successful, we expect immediate government approval for these additional modules, significantly increasing our production capacity.”

Bjarne Hald Olsen, Billund’s chief sales officer, said, “Throughout this period, we have challenged each other, our choices of technology and the pros and cons of different solutions. A lot of work has been done behind the scenes to find the most efficient setup, which has led to many internal discussions and decisions.”

One of the aims of this project is the need to address problems with poor shrimp quality and dependence on imported shrimp. Since this technology can be implemented anywhere, similar projects can be developed, thus decreasing food transportation distances and reducing reliance on food imports.

Florian Gösling, Aquapurna’s chief technology officer and co-founder, said, “The synergy between our extensive knowledge in land-based shrimp farming and Billund’s track record in establishing large-scale farms for various species proved to be the ideal fusion for pioneering the first large-scale, state-of-the-art shrimp recirculating aquaculture system.”