Cermaq contracted aquaculture services firm Akva Group to build a new land-based smolt facility in Chile in a deal valued at USD 32.5 million (EUR 30 million).
The recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facility, which will be located in the Los Lagos region, is part of the ambitious USD 100 million project which Cermaq Chile announced in April. The Chilean branch of the Oslo, Norway-based salmon fish farmer has employed Akva to build the second phase of its RAS smolt facility on its Chacao Canal Fish Farm (PCC), which will have a production capacity of 14 million smolt a year.
The project is expected to be operational in 2026 and will increase the site’s capacity by 2 million to 2.5 million smolts yearly. The company said the facility will be fully automated, producing smolts with a minimum average weight of 150 grams.
“Nueva PCC is one of Cermaq's most important projects not only locally but also from a global point of view and is in line with our business strategy in freshwater, where our objective is to improve the quality of our processes by delivering a smolt that maximizes performance in the seawater phase," Cermaq Chile General Manager Pedro Courard said at the time the new facility was announced.
Akva has built RAS facilities for Cermaq before, in the company's home country of Norway.
Akva has been active in securing new projects in 2024.
In September, the firm announced it was taking over construction of Årdal Aqua’s post-smolt facility in Årdal, Norway, after the original builder, Billund Aquaculture, went bankrupt. The post-smolt operation will include four modules with a capacity of 1,500 metric tons each. Akva said the facility will be completed on time in June 2025.
In July, Akva purchased 100 percent of the shares of Richmond, U.K.-based Observe Technologies, a technology company that develops artificial intelligence-enhanced aquaculture feeding solutions. Akva said the move will strengthen and complement its digital capabilities.
