From left: Norwegian fisheries minister Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen, centre, pictured with Andfjord CEO Martin Rasmussen, left, and founder Roy Pettersen, during a visit to Kvalnes. Photo: Andfjord Salmon.

‘Important milestones’ reached for Andfjord Salmon

Andfjord Salmon AS is making progress towards the completion of the first phase of its novel on-land salmon farm at Kvalnes on the island of Andøya, the Norwegian company said in its first-half report today.

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The first phase, which will have a pool with a capacity for 1,000 tonnes of biomass, will be finished later this year, and work has been accelerated on the rest of the site.

Phase 1 was originally scheduled to have been finished and stocked this month, but work was disrupted due to the Covid-19 epidemic’s effect on travel. Fish will now go into the pool next spring.

Below sea level

Andford Salmon has permission to grow 10,000 tonnes of salmon at Kvalnes and plans to grow another 60,000 tonnes of fish at two other locations further up the island’s east coast. 

The company is using a form of flow-through system in pools that are blasted out of the bedrock so that that they are below sea level. This means less energy is used to pump sea water from depth into the pools.

Potential expansion

“A highly eventful past six months has made me even more confident in our ambition of building sustainable salmon farming at substantially lower production cost compared to traditional salmon farming,” said chief executive Martin Rasmussen.

“In the first half of 2020, we have reached several important milestones in both the construction of our first facility at Kvalnes and in preparing for the potential expansion of an additional 60,000 tonnes MAB production capacity.”

As the company is spending money and not yet earning any by growing fish, operating loss in the first half of 2020 was NOK 8.3 million, compared to a loss of NOK 5.1m in the same period last year. Cash and deposits at the end of first half 2020 amounted to NOK 175.3m.

First-half highlights:

  • In February, the company signed an agreement with Fjell Technology Group and Melbu Systems for delivery of fish-waste recycling technology, enabling recycling of all the waste from the facility.
  • In March, Andfjord Salmon signed a contract with ABB which will provide a complete solution for automation, instrumentation, telecommunications and power distribution.
  • In the same month, the company signed a contract for an Enercon E-48 wind turbine. Its facility will be partly powered by renewable energy through the use of solar panels and wind turbines.
  • In April, the company signed a contract with Karstein Kristiansen Entreprenør AS for construction of Andfjord Salmon’s premises at Kvalnes.
  • In the same month, Andfjord Salmon signed a contract with Mørenot Robotics for delivery of robots, electric rafts and a number of cleaning-ROVs and equipment to be used in the company’s operations.
  • During the first half of 2020, Andfjord Salmon has ramped-up appointments of essential personnel, attracting managers and operators with extensive experience from the aquaculture industry.