Salten Smolt outside Bodø is now fully in operation with 5.5 million fry swimming around in the RAS facility from Pure Salmon Kaldnes. – The plant was not only delivered on time; it was delivered ahead of time, explains a very satisfied CEO of Salten Aqua, Jarle Solemdal.
Pure Salmon Kaldnes AS, which is located with its head office in Sandefjord and a branch office in Drammen, currently counts a total of 86 employees. The company also has an international base in Abu Dhabi as well as office locations in the USA, Japan and France.
In 2019, the company signed a contract with Salten Smolt to build a 9,000 square meter land-based fish farm in Breivik, Bodø. Salten Smolt is owned by Salten Aqua AS, Wenberg Fiskeoppdrett AS and Edelfarm AS. The company already operates a smolt facility next door and a feeding plant in the nearby municipality of Saltdal.
5,5 Million fry
The Breivik project had a total budget of NOK 600 million. This marks the largest investment in the history of the Salten Aqua group. Annual smolt production has now increased from 400 tonnes to 1,200 tonnes.
Following a successful start-up before Christmas and several egg and fry insertions around New Year, all departments are now in operation. The new facility now holds a total of 5.5 million fry. The CEO of the Salten Aqua group, Jarle Solemdal, is particularly pleased with the progress of the construction process.
New plans in progress
“Pure Salmon Kaldnes not only delivered on time, but they actually delivered prior to deadline. That is not necessarily normal practice for our industry. I’m impressed with how the company managed to cope with the major challenges related to Covid restrictions throughout the construction process. They were always ahead of, or on top of, the situation. We are constantly assessing opportunities to expand our operations and build new facilities, and Pure Salmon Kaldnes will naturally be a potential partner when the time comes”
– Jarle Solemdal, CEO of Salten Aqua
The Managing Director at Salten Smolt, Børge Andreassen, is also very pleased with the collaboration with Pure Salmon Kaldnes
“Such extensive construction projects rarely take place without challenges. However, Pure Salmon has been very good at adjusting and correcting progress along the way.”
– Børge Andreassen, The Managing Director at Salten Smolt
Success in every way
Senior Project Manager Per Ivar Foshaug describes this as one of the largest projects Pure Salmon Kaldnes has delivered. At peak activity, more than 80 people worked on the project, including around 40 directly involved in the RAS delivery.
This has been a very exciting project to work on. We have delivered a complete facility in a beautiful wrapping with the building itself and its office department. The facility includes two flow-through hatcheries and five RAS departments with complete piping systems, pumps, feeding systems and a fully integrated SCADA automation system. It has been a project of unique collaboration from all parties, and it feels extra good knowing it has been such a successful project both in terms of delivery, quality, and economy.
-Per Ivar Foshaug, Senior Project Manager, Pure Salmon
