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Salfjord gets green light to raise salmon

Norwegian aquaculture company, Salfjord AS, said it has secured permits to raise salmon at its planned land-based facility at the Tjeldbergodden industrial park in Aure, western Norway.

The permits provided by the Møre og Romsdal county council allows for a maximum standing biomass of 21,000 tons. This is equivalent to 27 licenses for conventional fish farming in the sea, an annual output of 36,500 tons of head-on gutted (HOG) salmon, or up to 500,000 salmon meals per day throughout the year, according to a press release from Salfjord.

It also allows the Salfjord to produce 30 million smolt per year.

“We’ve worked purposefully on this for a long time, and are very pleased that the permit is now in place,” said Salfjord co-founder and chief executive officer Hans Ramsvik. “We’re now looking forward to a dialogue in finding the right partners and exploring financing models.”

The company said it expects the cost of developing the plant to be betwee NOK 7 to 7.5 billion (US$650 to 700 million).

Ramsvik said he is aiming for the first phase of growout production to be ready in 2026.

Salfjord is working with land-based aquaculture system provider Artec Aqua. The company develops hybrid flowthrough and recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS).

“Having Artec Aqua on the team reduces uncertainty for construction time and costs,” said Ramsvik. “Thanks to its hybrid system – a flowthrough solution with recycling of up to 65 per cent of the water quantity – we’ll also overcome technological, operational and biological challenges.”

He said his company is also looking into circular opportunities by possibly using waste heat from a nearby methanol factory to provide energy for Salfjord’s facility.