Bryter etablerte grenser i fiskeoppdrett med teknologi og automasjon fra Guard Automation

The technology company Ovum has developed and tested a closed-containment aquaculture facility called Egget®.

Technical Director at Ovum, Åsmund Hellesøy, has worked at the company for the past five years. He says that Guard Automation has been a crucial collaboration partner since 2019.

– We came to Guard with plans, drawings, and a vision to make the aquaculture industry more sustainable. We needed an automation partner with deep expertise, execution capability, and willingness to help solve complex challenges that could arise along the way. Guard has delivered on this. They have been absolutely essential in the development, says Hellesøy.

Division Manager for Aquaculture at Guard in Bergen, Aleksander Mork-Knudsen, explains that the project is among the most innovative and demanding projects the company has been involved in.

– It has been incredibly rewarding to be part of taking the idea from the sketch stage to a pilot project with operational use, he says.

List With Numbers

1. Guard Control incorporates encrypted communication and secure authentication.
2. Support for Single Sign-On, multi-factor authentication and browser-based access.
3. Enables authorised users to monitor and operate facilities remotely.

Operations are monitored and optimized using 300 different signals

Mork-Knudsen explains that seven employees at Guard have contributed everything from consulting and system design, to programming of the automation system, operations and monitoring systems, coordination of electrical installation, as well as custom-built panels.

– Over 300 different signals are logged and monitored. We collect sensor values to monitor water quality for pH, turbidity, CO2, total gas pressure, O2 saturation and concentration, temperature, and more. Everything must function seamlessly at all times to ensure optimal living and growth conditions for the fish. In addition, we have monitoring of critical systems such as oxygen dosing, fire alarm systems, emergency power supplies, pumps, and fuses. In the event of an incident, the fish farmers receive immediate SMS alerts and log in via the mobile app to gain control, says Mork-Knudsen.

The advanced technical infrastructure makes the management of the closed aquaculture facility fully automated. This enables, among other things, precise regulation of oxygen levels, adapted fish feeding, remote control of all pumps, and controlled emergency operation of the facility.

The operations monitoring system is custom-built in Guard Cloud, which gives Ovum and the operations manager at the facility easy access to important operational data. In addition to data from the process itself, Guard has integrated cameras with live video feed from the Egg and logs weather data and forecasts for the area. Ovum also uses this system for monitoring and optimizing energy consumption at the Egg.

Successful pilot project

After several years of development, testing, and improvements, the first version of Egget was launched in the Romsdalsfjord in Møre og Romsdal in autumn 2022. 50,000 smolt were placed in the 21-meter-high facility, and in March 2023 the fish were harvested. Hellesøy explains that the pilot was a success.

- Veterinarians, biologists, and subject matter experts closely followed the pilot project. The fish thrived, grew quickly, and there was no disease,' he says. When the fish reached 1.1 kilos, they were removed from Egget® and transferred to a conventional net pen.

Mortality in traditional open net pens for production up to 1 kg is between 6–8%, and in some cases higher. In comparison, mortality in the pilot project was 1.2 percent and the feed conversion ratio was 0.86 until the fish were harvested, according to Hellesøy.

- We learned an incredible amount from the pilot project, and are now making a number of improvements. The few fish that died made powerful leaps above the water surface and hit their heads on the wall. This has been remedied with a kind of "bumper" that cushions the impacts. But the biggest improvement relates to how we crowd the fish when they are to be removed from Egget®. In the first round we had problems,' Hellesøy acknowledges. In the second round it went brilliantly and only 0.1% died from handling. We are very pleased with that,' Hellesøy smiles.

He points out that the innovation solves many major challenges facing the aquaculture industry. 'The closed facility prevents the fish from escaping, reduces discharge of fish waste, and at the same time improves fish health. Sea lice were not a problem in the facility, which has a major impact on how fast the fish grow, because sea lice treatment significantly slows growth,' says Hellesøy.

Summary

• The technology company Ovum has developed and tested a floating closed aquaculture facility named Egget® (The Egg).
• After several years of development, testing, and improvements, the first version of Egget was launched in the Romsdalsfjord in Møre og Romsdal in autumn 2022.
• 50,000 smolt were placed in the 21-meter-high facility, and in March 2023 the fish were harvested.
• Mortality in traditional open net pens for production up to 1 kg is between 6–8%. In comparison, mortality in the pilot project was 1.2 percent and the feed conversion ratio was 0.86 until the fish were harvested