The new design is destined for Prophylaxia, a company controlled by land-based salmon farming pioneers Bjorn-Vegard Lovik and Johan Andreassen.
Norwegian aquatech company Ovum has announced the signing of a contract for the construction of their second egg-shaped closed containment aquaculture system, to be known as “Egg No. 2.”
The Egg is a 2,000m³ floating closed containment aquaculture system made from composite materials, capable of housing 90-100 tons of post-smolt. It is currently under construction by Herde Kompositt in Ølve, situated Hardangerfjorden.
Larger Egg models with impressive 20,000m³ capacities are in the pipeline and expected to enter production in 2024.
This innovative development is following the success of the pilot model, E2000, and is destined for Prophylaxia, a company controlled by land-based salmon farming pioneers Bjorn-Vegard Lovik and Johan Andreassen, the founders of US land-based salmon farmer Atlantic Sapphire.
Prophylaxia has been operating the first “Egg” in the Romsdalsfjorden since the fall of 2022.
“The biological results from two post-smolt production cycles in the pilot have exceeded our expectations. This is due in no small part to the excellent collaboration with Prophylaxia in terms of operation and Herde Kompositt, the company responsible for building the Egg,” said Trond Severinsen, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) at Ovum.
Severinsen went on to acknowledge the learning curve involved in such pioneering endeavors, saying, “Not everything has gone according to plan, but we’ve mostly hit the mark and tackled challenges together and in real-time. This has resulted in numerous technical improvements that are now incorporated into Egg No. 2.”
Ovum also revealed in their announcement that Norway, particularly the regions of PO3 and PO4, is the primary market they are focusing on in the near future. Severinsen explained, “The market for the Egg in salmon farming is equally vast abroad, but we must first establish efficient and automated production here and ‘get it right in Norway first.'”
