‘Clean energy’ wellboat power plant commissioned
The world’s largest and probably most environmental land based power plant for wellboats has been officially opened on the island of Hitra near Trondheim.
The ceremony also marked the inauguration of two new wellboats for the Leroy Seafood Group’s Midt operation, which has a nearby salmon plant.
The power plant (pictured) means that vessels can discharge their fish for slaughter without the engines running, hugely reducing CO2 emissions.
The vessels are able to operate solely on electricity while handling more than 1,000 tonnes of live fish per hour.
Svein Olav Munkeby, executive director of NTE Marked AS, which designed and built the plant, said told the broadcaster NRK that as diesel vessels of this type use up 1,000 litres of fuel per hour, the CO2 reductions could total 50,000 kilograms a day or several thousand tonnes annually.
The Frøy supplied vessels are, named Kristiansund and Gåsø Høvding, with the latter, which is equipped with several new solutions, thought to be the world’s largest.
The project is the result of a close collaboration between Lerøy Midt, Frøy ASA and NTE.
Harald Larssen, general manager of Lerøy Midt said: “This investment is one of many measures we are taking to achieve the company’s goal of reducing climate emissions by 46% by 2030.”
Jakob Hæhre Krogsrud, marketing manager at NTE, described it as a ground-breaking project, adding: “The new shore current facility for well boats is the largest of its kind in the aquaculture industry, and I am convinced that it is an important step on the way to a greener industry.”
Andreas Moe, regional operations director for Frøy ASA, said: “The fact that we can use shore power instead of diesel for such large and energy-intensive operations is worth its weight in gold for both for the environment and the whole seafood industry.”
