Threetimes and Lighthouse Finance have invested in Open Ocean Andalusia, a new project to install an offshore aquaculture platform to grow seriola (Seriola dumerili) more than six miles off the southeast coast of Spain.
At a recent conference at the University of Almeria, Threetimes CEO Twan Voogt said the vertically integrated project will produce 15,000 metric tons (MT) of seriola annually once complete, and is expected to cost in the region of EUR 260 million (USD 300 million). A recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) hatchery and nursery facilities with a production capacity of five million fry is included in the plans, along with four sea platform cages, wellboats, a value-added processing plant with a capacity of 2,000 MT per month, and a feed plant to formulate the 20,000 MT of feed each year to satisfy the farm’s needs.
The company still must complete an environmental impact study, which is expected to be submitted to the Spanish government for approval before the end of 2021, Voogt said. He said the company is tentatively planning to begin work on the first two platforms and the hatchery in 2022, and to build a third platform, the processing plant, and feed factory in 2023. It hopes to have produced three million fry in its hatchery in 2023 so it can begin stocking the first two platforms by the end of the year. Open Ocean Andalusia’s plan is to produce 6,000 MT of seriola in 2025, moving up to 12,000 MT in 2026, and 15,000 MT in 2027.
Seriola dumerili has a variety of common names including greater amberjack, greater yellowtail, and yellow trevally. Voogt said its interest to the commercial aquaculture sector is relatively new but growing, with around 150,000 metric tons (MT) currently farmed each year, Voogt said.
The Open Ocean Andalusia project is similar to one announced by Threetimes earlier this year in the Canary Islands. However, an inability to overcome regulatory difficulties resulted in a change of project location to Spain, where it has already gained national and regional government support, hopefully smoothing the project’s bureaucratic path toward making the venture operational, Voogt said.
Open Ocean Andalusia’s spar-type offshore platform is capable of being operated remotely up to 50 miles from the coast, can cope with 12-meter swells, and is designed with copper nets that will prevent fish from escaping and deter attacks from predators, Voogt said. The project’s patented technology was pioneered by the offshore oil and gas industry and has been used in Mexico, Oman, Brazil, and Mauritius, he said.
Voogt said Threetimes expects a 35 percent gross margin on the investment, with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of EUR 64 million (USD 72 million) and a return on investment (ROI) of 30 percent.
Photo courtesy of Open Ocean Andalusia
