ScaleAQ sells its first closed cage
Hardingsmolt signs agreement for 'Heimdall'
International supplier ScaleAQ has sold its first closed cage for fish farming in the sea. The concept, Heimdall, was launched at this year's AquaNor trade show in Trondheim, and Hardingsmolt in Western Norway is the first buyer.
The agreement involves the purchase of one cage, with an option for more. Heimdall is scheduled to be delivered next autumn. The first stocking will be for post-smolt in 2026, followed by food fish production in 2027. The cage will be placed in the sea at the Koløy N location between Stord and Bømlo, south of Bergen.
Low energy use
Heimdall is a 160-metre pen with an effective production volume of 20,000m3.
According to ScaleAQ, it has optimised internal hydraulics for improved fish performance, and groundbreaking low energy consumption. Total water volume is replaced between one and two times per hour.
"While our primary focus is post-smolt production at sea, its modular design allows for easy adaptation to full grow-out and site-specific configurations – even in shallower waters – without compromising performance or safety," ScaleAQ says on its website.
Important timing
The timing of the sale is extremely important for ScaleAQ, following the Norwegian government's recent launch of its environmental flexibility scheme for fish farmers in Western Norway. The scheme enables them to use the percentage of their biomass allowance that has been suspended under Norway's 'traffic light' system, providing they use closed containment.
Our goal is for customers to buy many of these and for them to be operated cheaply and with efficient production
"Our Heimdall meets all the requirements in the regulations. It shows that we have really worked hard over the years to develop something that stands up very well. In addition, it has a unique modularity that allows the farmer to adapt a lot when it comes to environmental conditions or changes in requirements," said Ben Øksnes, chief executive of ScaleAQ CAS (closed aquaculture systems) in a press release.
"We will deliver cost-effective cages for farmers. Our goal is for customers to buy many of these and for them to be operated cheaply and with efficient production."
An experienced customer
Hardingsmolt has been using floating closed containment to grow post-smolts in the sea since 2019.
"For us, Heimdall will be a natural scale-up based on the same principles as the cages we have already been using since 2019. Through its focus on fish, ScaleAQ has developed a new alternative with large volume that has very good flow, oxygenation and sludge collection," said the company's general manager Frode Sandven.
"There is exciting innovation at all levels (of Heimdall), and especially how the water flow is solved, with very low energy requirements, and with very reliable pumps that we have great faith in. For our part, this upscaling will quickly enable better capacity utilisation in collaboration with our owners, and we envision being able to have a share of our 'smolt production' within safe barriers all the way from egg to harvest in our operation."
Lots of interest
The new agreement, and not least the government's new regulations, have put the wind in the sails for Heimdall. ScaleAQ said that interest has been very high from AquaNor and that the government's new environmental flexibility scheme in Western Norway has also led to demand.
"We have already received a lot of recognition for how we have thought about and developed the concept. This should be technology adapted to the fish, not technology first and then adaptation for the fish afterwards," said Øksnes.
