Imagine a fish farm where nothing goes to waste. Instead of letting dirty water pollute the environment, it's used as food for algae, which then get turned into high-protein seafood products. It's like a closed-loop garden where the fish feed the plants, and the plants clean the water.
EU aquaculture lags behind Asia in algae production and struggles with waste management. Current fish farming creates nutrient-rich waste that is costly to treat and represents a lost revenue opportunity.
A digitally-enhanced integrated fish and algae cultivation system. This includes a 200m2 macroalgae production site and a 2500L salmon RAS linked to a photobioreactor.
If you are a fish farm operator dealing with high water waste and nutrient runoff — this project developed an integrated RAS-IMTA system that uses algae to clean water and create a second revenue stream from biomass.
If you are a food producer dealing with the high cost of sustainable proteins — this project developed biorefinery processing methods to turn algae into high-value seafood products.
If you are a tech provider dealing with inefficient farm monitoring — this project developed a Digital Twin Backbone and optical sensors to optimize algae and fish growth.
Based on available project data, specific pricing or cost-per-unit figures are not provided; the focus is on demonstrating economic robustness at a pre-commercial level.
The project includes a 25L photobioreactor connected to a 2500L RAS for salmon, and a demonstration site with a 200m2 productive surface area capable of utilizing 40m3/h of effluent water.
Based on available project data, the project includes exploitation plans to maximize impact, but specific licensing terms are not detailed in the summary.
It uses an integrated unit approach where algae reactors are connected to Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) to treat wastewater and produce biomass.
The project runs from 2023-06-01 to 2027-05-31, aiming to reach TRL 6-7 by the end of the period.
The consortium is heavily industry-driven with 11 industrial partners (65% ratio), including 8 SMEs. This high concentration of commercial entities across 8 countries suggests a strong focus on market viability and practical application rather than purely academic research.
Contact NORCE RESEARCH AS in Norway for technical specifications on the RAS-IMTA integration.
Contact us to connect with the INNOAQUA consortium for licensing algae-processing technologies.
