Fish-farms are replacing diesel power with electricity

Torskefjorden with fish farmsTorskefjorden with fish farms. Photo:commons.wikimedia.org

More and more fish-farms in Norway are replacing polluting diesel generators with electricity from the mainland.
Enova supports the climate protection measure.

To date, 10 applicants from 30 different work-sites received support from Enova in replacing diesel generators.

‘I see that more and more fish-farms are considering this. The ambition is for the aquaculture industry
to grow. In that case, I believe it’s important to think ahead about energy-use and the climate, said senior
adviser, Merete Knain of Enova to Teknisk Ukeblad (TU).

The company, Nordlaks, recently received 7 million in support to electrify twelve farms in Nordland and southern
Troms.

This will replace a million gallons of diesel fuel each year, according Enova. Meanwhile, it installs energy-saving
LED lights in the fish-cages.

Altogether, the project will reduce annual energy consumption to 6.13 GWh, which corresponds to the
power consumption of 300 Norwegian households.

‘This is a positive mitigation. We believe there is great potential for phasing out diesel in aquaculture. It provides
energy efficiency, and it replaces diesel with renewable electricity’, said Knain. She cannot, however,
quantify the potential for total CO2 emission reductions within the industry, but believes they should be mapped.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today