Seawater ‘artery’ installed at 10,000t on-land salmon farm
The first section of the pipe that will supply water to a 10,000-tonne flow-through salmon farm being built by Andfjord Salmon in Norway has been installed.
“The inlet pipe is the artery which is going to be connected to the intake system. This is a huge day and a milestone for Andfjord Salmon,” said Roy Pettersen, the company’s working chairman.
The innermost section of the inlet pipe is 160 metres long. Over the next few days and weeks, three further sections will be connected to the pipe, which will then be commissioned, Andfjord said in a press release.
A time-critical task
Most parts of the installation work for the outlet pipe can be done from land and is therefore not as weather dependent as the first phase.
“Excavation of the route to, and installation of, the inlet pipe has always been among the most demanding and time-critical tasks. These have now been completed. This gives us much greater predictability regarding further work,” said chief executive Martin Rasmussen.
Andfjord Salmon has developed a patented system which allows its salmon pools to fill themselves with seawater from a depth of 160 metres with minimal energy use. All fish waste is captured and recycled into growth products for agriculture.
10 pools
Andfjord’s salmon farm at Kvalnes on the island of Andøya will have 10 pools excavated into the bedrock. Each will have a capacity of 1,000 tonnes of salmon.
The first smolts are due to go into the first tank in the spring.
Andfjord plans to eventually produce 70,000 tonnes of salmon a year by expanding to two other sites on the island.
Watch a substitled video of the pipe installation below.
