RAS COMPANIES IN STRENGTH AT AQUANOR

RAS companies in strength at Aqua Nor – Many of the companies that will make growth in land-based farming possible will be exhibiting at the forthcoming Aqua Nor (20 – 23 August) in Trondheim, Norway according to an article on their website.

“Here in Norway, we see that salmon production has stagnated in recent years. As elsewhere in the world, the industry and individual operators see opportunities to establish themselves on land to increase production,” explains Øyvind Hilmarsen, senior business developer for SINTEF’s research on land-based farming.

“Farming on land is a more complex production than at sea. The challenges are largely related to energy, area use, a necessary skills boost, sludge management and the technology available today, “Hilmarsen elaborates.
When it comes to sludge management, there are already solutions in place to efficiently remove sludge from the production water.

“This happens continuously and the sludge is dried and made stable for storage. Sludge management in land-based facilities is a great story about technology suppliers who in a few years have developed solutions that have today become off-the-shelf products,” says Hilmarsen.

Some of the exhibitors that provide sludge handling solutions are Blue Ocean Technology (D-345), Sulzer Pumps Wasterwater Norway (A1-223) and German SPECK Pumpen Verkaufsgesellschaft GmbH (E-420).

Many of the RAS and flow-through plants that have been built over the last ten years are built on existing industrial sites where there has been previous farming activity.

“With today’s development pace, you need new land that has not been used for farming in the past. Here, the key is to find suitable sites with good access to fresh water, that do not conflict with other aquaculture activities and that meet the distance requirements,” Hilmarsen

Companies that can assist with consultancy and design of the construction of land-based aquaculture plants are among others Multiconsult at stand A-187 and Rambøll at stand A-167.

A boost to competence and technology is essential for land-based farming to continue to grow.

“Operational competence is a key factor for future growth. It requires the exchange of skills between academia, fish farmers and technology suppliers,” he says.

On land, a large part of the costs are associated with constantly providing the fish with access to high quality water. Fortunately, there are many good solutions that remove anything that should not be in the water – and that adds oxygen and other elements that make the water quality as optimal as possible.

“The aquaculture industry is very international and able to learn from each other. RAS facilities are large and complex, and they require a range of different solutions,” says Hilmarsen.
A large number of suppliers of pump solutions and systems for water treatment are present at the exhibition. Among many others, you will find exhibitors such as Vest Jet AS at stand F-561, , Xylem Water Solutions Norway at D-346, Øwre-Johnsen at stand A1-208, Busch Vacuum Technology at E -425 and FishTech at F-581.

Hilmarsen predicts that the balance between profitability and environmental considerations is essential for land-based farming to continue to grow and that solid and forward-looking technology is needed to achieve this.
“First and foremost, the plants have to be good and profitable. If one manages to operate within an acceptable risk, this is probably part of the key to further success.”

On this year’s list of exhibitors, in addition to dozens of other companies providing technology and services for land based fish farming, you also find several companies that supply complete facilities for farming on land.

Here are some of the companies providing complete facilities that are coming to this year’s Aqua Nor:

AquaOptima (Stand A-157)
This Trondheim company has been providing industry-leading technology for optimal water quality for over 25 years and has delivered hundreds of RAS plants around the world. In addition to developing RAS facilities, they work on research and development projects. AquaOptima can deliver turnkey systems of all sizes and the latest innovations from one of the world’s leading development environments for aquaculture technology.

AquaMaof Aquaculture Technologies (Stand D-322)
The Israeli company provides full-scale onshore aquaculture solutions and has over 30 years of experience from over 50 different locations worldwide. At its plant in Poland, AquaMaof has farmed salmon up to slaughter weight.

Artec Aqua AS (Stand A-193)
Artec Aqua delivers ready-made facilities for farming on land, and supplies products and systems for both flow-through, and recycling plants. The Ålesund company supplies turnkey plants and has also developed a number of proprietary products for RAS plants.

Billund Aquaculture (Stand D-340)
The Danish company Billund Aquaculture started with eel farming in 1986 and has more than 30 years of experience with land-based farming and is today a total supplier of such solutions. Billund has delivered plants all over the globe and has experience with everything from salmon smolt to Beluga sturgeon and can contribute anything from the engineering job to the implementation of technical solutions at the plants, as well as start-up, training and service. Billund Aquaculture has offices in Denmark, Norway, Chile, Australia and the USA.

Clewer Aquaculture (Stand E-427)
Another player who supplies turnkey RAS plants is the Finnish company Clewer Aquaculture, which specializes in water purification through the design and construction of RAS systems. The Finns have experience in farming both trout and salmon smolt, as well as crayfish from mainly Finland, Sweden, the Baltics and Russia.

Akva Group Land Based Norway (Stand D-338)
Akva Group Land Based Norway offers complete technical solutions and services in both cage-based and land-based farming. They provide technology and services that help solve biological challenges in the global aquaculture industry. The company supplies everything from simple components to service assignments and complete installations.
AKVA Group has extensive experience and is present in all markets with offices in Norway, Chile, Denmark, Scotland, Spain, Greece, Iran, Iceland, Canada, Australia and Turkey.

Sterner AS (Stand D-329)
Sterner is today the largest Norwegian-owned water treatment company. The company supplies process components and complete water treatment systems to customers mainly in aquaculture, well boats, food industry and municipalities.Sterner has head office at Ski outside Oslo and branch offices in Porsgrunn, Bergen, Trondheim and at Leknes in Lofoten.

Nofitech (Stand A-177)
Norwegian Fishfarming Technologies develops, designs and builds complete RAS systems. Since 2011, the company has developed RAS modules that are well suited for increasing the capacity of existing plants. Each module constitutes independent operating units in major development projects and makes it possible to get started quickly with production.

Krüger Kaldnes (Stand F-566)
Krüger Kaldnes participates in Aqua Nor for the fifth time and has for almost 20 years provided the aquaculture industry with solutions and technology for water treatment. Krüger Kaldnes, in collaboration with a contractor, delivers a concept for total delivery of land-based farms. Today, as part of the Veolia Group, they are established as a leading RAS supplier in the global market and are known for several proprietary water purification solutions.

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