Transformer Deliveries for a Giant Project

“For us, this is an order of around NOK 2.5 million, and it’s important for us to be able to deliver to major projects in our local area,” says Senior Sales Engineer Olav Dalsbotten at Møre Trafo.

Under construction

Ground was broken in May last year, and construction of the giant onshore aquaculture facility in Romsdal is now underway. The construction work is the first of three phases, and the first building stage has an estimated cost of NOK 1.3 billion.

36,000 Tons of Salmon

The first construction phase will give capacity to produce 9,000 tons of fish, and when fully developed the facility will have a capacity of 36,000 tons, and up to 70,000 tons in the longer term. The plan is to have the first smolt in place in the fourth quarter of 2021 and the first harvesting in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Fish on Land

“Conventional sea-based farming can’t keep up with demand growth. There are simply too many biological problems and regulatory constraints for it to grow significantly,” said the chair of Salmon Evolution, Tore Tønseth, to E24 after making a roaring stock market debut, where investors sent the land-based farmer up 58 percent on the first trading day (Merkur Market) in September last year.

Faster Production Time

The large-scale facility is being built in a disused quarry at Indre Harøya in Romsdal. The plant will be a combined flow-through and recirculation facility. That means 70 percent of the water in the tanks is treated and recirculated, while 30 percent is pumped in from the sea. Expected production time for the salmon is 12 months. In sea-based farms, production time is 15 to 18 months.

Sunnmøring

One of the new owners is the Sunnmøring and Sølvtrans founder Roger Halsebakk, who invested NOK 70 million in Salmon Evolution. Before the company was listed on the stock exchange, it raised half a billion in fresh capital for the land-based facility at Hustadvika.

Artec Aqua

Artec Aqua is the main contractor for Salmon Evolution. Artec Aqua is a specialist company that handles all interfaces with the various suppliers in a construction project.

“As the turnkey contractor for the project, we are proud to have many different suppliers from the region on the team. It’s great to see that several local suppliers deliver on competence and are competitive on price,” says Ole Gunnar Lyngstad, who manages the construction project at Indre Harøy in Hustadvika municipality.

Energy Efficient

Salmon Evolution has received close to NOK 100 million in support from Enova to build what is intended to be an energy-efficient land-based fish farm. The solution, which the company will be the first in the world to use, can cut energy consumption per kilo of market-ready fish by 30 percent compared to comparable technology. That equals 22,000,000 kWh, the same as the annual power consumption of more than 1,000 detached houses.

The Transformers

The delivery from Møre Trafo will take place in June this year, and consists of eight 2000 kVA and three 2500 kVA units. All transformers use FR-3 environmental oil and have shielded windings for rectifier operation. All transformers contain less than 1000 liters of oil, which makes installation easier.

Møre Trafo also supplies oil collection trays for these transformers. These transformers have all conversion at 22000/415V.

Transformer Projects

“Deliveries go through Nettpartner Prosjekt in Molde, which is our customer on this project. Møre Trafo currently supplies many large transformers to data centers, bus and ferry terminals, and large onshore fish farming facilities,” says Senior Sales Engineer Dalsbotten.