'The plant is really starting to rise now'
The development of phase 2 of Salmon Evolution's facility is on track – and the first new tanks will be operational as early as next spring.
Published
Construction work on Salmon Evolution's land-based fish farming facility on Indre Harøy is in an intense phase.
"The plant is really starting to rise now," chief exceutive Trond Håkon Schaug-Pettersen tells LandbasedAQ.
There has been a lot of activity on the construction site so far this year, and most of the groundwork for phase 2 is now complete. The first tanks are already in place, and further buildings are being erected at a rapid pace. At the same time, installation of process equipment will begin this spring.
"For example, the concrete work at the intake station is almost complete, and over Easter we will start laying the intake pipes."
On schedule for start-up
The company remains on course according to the progress plan, and the first tanks are scheduled to be put into operation at the end of the first quarter of 2026.
"This means that we are now less than a year away from the start of operations for phase 2, and the entire facility will be completed by the end of 2026."
Phase 2 will provide a significant capacity increase, and according to the company, the new facility will take total production capacity up to 18,000 tonnes per year. It marks an important step towards full-scale operations and financially self-sustaining growth.
While construction is in full swing, production in the completed Phase 1 portion of the facility continues without problems.
"We have been very careful to ensure safe and stable operation in parallel with the construction work. It works well, and we have not seen any challenges related to this."
Production record
In the first quarter, the company set a new production record, while also reporting low mortality and high product quality in its hybrid recirculation / flow-through facility.
"We ended the quarter with a standing biomass in line with our goals, and we are well positioned for strong development going forward."
The slaughter weight in Q1 was somewhat lower than the previous quarter, which the company explains with a temporary gap in the production plan due to challenges with smolt insertion in 2023. Going forward, it is expected to remain stable at over 4 kg gutted weight.
With the start of phase 2 in less than a year, the company plans to strengthen the operation's organisation through several new hires in 2025.
"We have a very solid basic organisation that gives us good scalability, but we will hire more people during the year to be well equipped for start-up next spring," says Schaug-Pettersen.
He emphasises that Phase 2 is a crossroads for Salmon Evolution.
"Phase 2 is truly a game changer for us as we reach critical mass in our operation and truly create a unique platform with significant production volume and with significant organic growth capacity just through cash flow from operations," says the Salmon Evolution CEO.
