Plans to double capacity to 8,000 tonnes a year are underway © Nordic Aqua
According to the company’s Q3 report, which was published this week, they were hit by elevated geosmin levels in the summer, which led to 651 tonnes of salmon being culled in Q3, while the company expects to cull a further 1,430 tonnes this quarter – meaning that they will have no commercial harvest in the second half of this year.
Nordic Aqua says it will invest €19 million to remediate the geosmin situation, including the installation of protein skimmers to remove particles in the water, vacuum UV systems and further ozonation systems, as well as adjusting the operating protocols for the biofilters to reduce the production of geosmin.
Despite these issues, the company said that underlying operational and biological performance was good for all batches and the total biomass production exceeded 1,000 tonnes during the quarter, while fish health was good, and mortality rates were low.
Commenting on the development, CEO Ragnar Joensen, said: “We are encouraged by the progress made in recent months and are pleased to see the resilience of our operations as we rebound from the geosmin setback. With rigorous measures in place and strengthened biological performance, we are now positioned to continue expanding our Nordic PureAtlantic brand in the Chinese market.”
Meanwhile construction of the farming operation of Stage 2 continues as planned. Extra capacity for hatchery, start-feeding, parr unit and smolt unit have been finished and the first egg inlay was successfully completed in September 2024.
In September the company successfully completed a private placement raising new equity of NOK 350 million. Combined with the company’s strategic agreement with Bank of China this will secure funding through completion of Stage 2 in addition repayment of short-term debt, capex related to geosmin improvements, working capital and other general corporate purposes.
“We are well underway with the buildout of Stage 2, which will double our capacity to 8,000 tonnes. The technical installations are expected to start in January 2025 with first harvest scheduled for the second half of 2026. Preparations for Stage 3, expanding capacity to 20,000 tonnes are ongoing, and a final decision on the timeline will be made during H1 2025”, Joensen commented.
Looking ahead, the company expects to harvest about 4,000 tonnes during 2025.
