Gigante Salmon ‘still on course to take smolts in September’

Gigante Salmon, which is building a 20,000-tonnes-per-year land-based fish farm in Norway, remains on track to stock its first smolts in September, it said in a presentation of its 2022 annual report today.

The company will grow salmon in flow-through raceways installed in three separate rectangular basins excavated into the bedrock.

The first basin has been excavated and is being lined with concrete and a membrane before being fitted out ahead of delivery of the first smolts from supplier Grytåga Settefisk AS in less than six months’ time.

Writing in the annual report, chief executive Helge Albertsen said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 plunged Europe into an energy crisis and, worldwide, building materials became harder to get hold of.

Remaining within budget

“The resulting inflation, higher costs and longer delivery times throughout the supply chain complicated a market that had already been disrupted by Covid-19,” wrote Albertsen.

“These developments have impacted our project, and the costs of some elements are now considerably higher. In response, we have implemented change that will reduce costs and our goal is for the project to remain within budget.

“Longer delivery times can be alleviated by ordering further in advance to ensure the delivery of critical components. Although we have managed to avoid any major consequences of these developments, it is too early to determine how completion of the second and the third production basins will be affected by developments abroad.”

20,000 tonnes

The chief executive added that the company’s financial status was unchanged, and it began drawing on a construction loan earlier this month. “That was three months later than expected according to our financial timeline, but we feel this a delay we can be pleased about.”

Gigante Salmon AS has an aquaculture permit on Lille Indre Rosøy (Little Rosøy Island) for a maximum allowed biomass of 13,731 tonnes of fish for human consumption, the equivalent of an annual production of approximately 20,000 tonnes.

The company’s aquaculture concept is based on the flow of fresh seawater, rather than recirculation, which Gigante says combines the benefits of conventional, at-sea aquaculture and land-based aquaculture.

The farm is designed for low energy use. Gigante calculates that it will use just 2 kWh of electricity per kilo of salmon produced once it is at full production.

Also read: A 'hole' lot of progress for Gigante