The launch of what was billed as the world’s first electrified fish farm is being delayed due complications resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak.
Zurich, Switzerland-based power systems and automation specialist ASEA Brown Boveri (ABB) generated revenues of USD 27 billion (EUR 25 billion) in 2018. ABB has aims of growing its aquaculture business, and the company wanted to use the system as a reference project in a push for similar projects globally, according to Lars Andersen, a sales executive for aquaculture systems in ABB’s Norway office.
Andersen said ABB had devised a system to power a Norwegian salmon farm owned by Bremnes Seashore directly from Norway’s electrical grid.
“We were supposed to open in April,” Andersen told SeafoodSource.
However, the opening date has been postponed to an as-yet undetermined date
“The project will use hybrid boats driven by battery for propulsion with back-up generators aboard, Andersen said. “The net-cleaning machines will also operate similarly, while equipment on the static facilities like pens will use mains power.”
Electricity is both cleaner and cheaper than diesel, according to Andersen, allowing Bremnes Seashore to save costs and avoid emissions and fuel spills. He also points to electrification ending noise pollution from diesel generators – “something that both the fish technicians and the people living close by will appreciate.”
In 2018, ABB published a research report on the potential of electrification of aquaculture with Bellona, a Norwegian-Russian nonprofit focused on climate change solutions.
“We then took it to the next stage and with Bellona looked for a fish farm company that wanted to implement the solution,” Andersen said. “We sent out an application for fish farming companies to apply to be a part of the project.”
ABB is now in talks with a number of aquaculture companies around the globe, though the company has not yet signed any contracts beyond its pact with Bremnes. China is an area of high potential, as it has planned a major build-out of offshore aquaculture in coming years, according to Andersen. The company is also looking to harness artificial intelligence for electrification solutions it’s developing for its aquaculture clients. ABB’s advantage is its “full value-chain” service of the sector, Andersen said. He pointed to the firm’s experience in wiring systems for fish farms, smolt facilities, and processing plants, while also producing its own equipment and developing custom systems for aquaculture operations.
Photo courtesy of ABB
