AKVA group Land Based entered into an agreement with Nordic Aqua Nigbo to deliver a complete RAS facility just outside Shanghai. The project has a planned production volume of 8,000 tons in 2026. The contract is the largest in AKVA group's history.
In December 2019, it was announced that AKVA group was chosen as the technology supplier for the RAS facility to be built by Nordic Aqua Partners (NAP) in China. This is a large and strategically important contract for AKVA group, and the value of the contract is NOK 550 million ($60 million).
“The contract is extremely important to us in our further investment in land-based food fish. This will be an important reference project that can give us new opportunities in the future. We are currently working on four other land-based projects so I look forward to the future of land-based salmon farming,” said Knut Nesse, CEO of AKVA group.
The development of the complete RAS facility will be carried out in two phases, and the first phase will start in January 2021. The first phase will enable NAP to produce 4,000 tons of salmon annually. The salmon will be harvested at 4-5 kg and will supply the Chinese market with locally produced salmon.
“We have great faith in moving salmon production to where the consumer is. Airfreight is saved, which gives a much lower CO2 footprint compared to producing in Norway and sending to Asia. We believe that our water-efficient RAS technology is extremely beneficial when it comes to investing closer to the consumer in Asia and the U.S.,” said Nesse.
Environmentally friendly RAS farm in Sweeden
The group also signed an engineering contract with Swedish company Premium Svensk Lax for a 10,000-ton salmon RAS farm in Värmland, Sweden. Premium Svensk Lax has been granted permission by Swedish authorities to produce 10,000 tons of large salmon on land-based on AKVA group’s sustainable zero water concept (ZWC). The ZWC technology consists of denitrification and phosphor removal that purifies the process water for re-use in the farming system and minimizes the discharge levels.
