This is the plant’s third production line, with the other two used for processing pelagic landings. The new line uses steam produced by an electrically-fired boiler instead of an oil-fired system and HB Grandi has secured a 2.50MW supply for this production. This is equivalent to 15-20 per cent of the entire factory’s power requirement if run at full power.
Almar Sigurjónsson, department manager in charge of HB Grandi’s fishmeal production, said that the new line will be able to handle approximately 55 tonnes of raw material per day.
"It would certainly have been possible to process this amount with the production lines we already have in place at the factory, but the volume is fairly small and it is hardly worthwhile starting up such a large system for small amounts, in addition to which, we prefer to process raw material while it is fresh and using locally-produced power," he said.
The new production line has been installed over the last few weeks and among the equipment fitted are a cooker, a press, evaporation system and a decanter.
"We plan to start production over the next few days. The volume of material from the Nordurgardur factory in Reykjavík is around 10,000 tonnes annually. The meal and oil produced form this are excellent for manufacturing feed as the freshness of the raw material is as good as it can be and the salt content is minimal. We expect to have two or three truck loads every day and expect that will be enough to ensure that we can maintain production five days a week with shifts to operate the plant 16-18 hours a day," Mr Sigurjónsson said, adding that the raw material is to be transported from Reykjavík in specially fitted out tanks made by Thorgeir & Ellert at Akranes.
