Norwegian land-based salmon farmer Salmon Evolution AS is just weeks away from releasing the first smolt into the fish tanks at its Indre Harøy facility on the west coast of the country, the company has confirmed in a filing with the Oslo Stock Exchange, Oslo Børs.
The commissioning phase in connection with the handover of the first fish tanks started in December 2021, and then last month fresh seawater was introduced to one tank – giving it a water depth of 95 metres.
This validated both the water intake and offtake process, Salmon Evolution said.
Alongside the ongoing construction at Indre Harøy, the company has been training staff to facilitate a smooth transition when entering the operating phase.
“2021 was a ground-breaking year for Salmon Evolution with a tremendous amount of effort being undertaken by our employees and suppliers,” Salmon Evolution CEO, Håkon André Berg, said.
“We are truly excited about soon being able to welcome the first smolt into our facility at Indre Harøy. We have spent a lot of time preparing for this historical event and I have great confidence in our organization as Salmon Evolution now enters the next phase.”
According to the filing, all 12 fish tanks in phase 1 are now assembled and the intake station is technically ready for operation.
During the fourth-quarter 2021, the company successfully installed its two water inlet pipes, one going down to 95 metres water depth and one going down to 25 metres.
At the same time, the installation of process equipment and pipes, including heat pumps, heat exchangers, O2 equipment and CO2 and nitrogen strippers also continued.
As previously reported by WF, Salmon Evolution has entered into a Heads of Terms with Artec Aqua for the planning of the phase 2 build-out at Indre Harøy. This is expected to add a further 7,900 tonnes of head-on gutted weight (HOG) of annual production, bringing the total planned salmon production volume to 15,800 tonnes HOG per annum.
Artec Aqua has been the turnkey supplier for phase 1 of the project.
Upon completion, Indre Harøy is expected to have an annual capacity of approximately 31,500 tonnes HOG.
