Pure Salmon, the sustainable land-based salmon farming company, has announced plans for a number of new Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS) salmon facilities around the world
The company now has the capital required for phase one of its global rollout covering the projects in Poland, Japan, France and the US, thanks to the completion of fundraising from 8F Asset Management, closing its first aquaculture private equity fund at US$358.8m.
The investor base comprises leading family and institutional investors including several sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, and pension funds from Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the United States. The project also attracted substantial investments from the aquaculture industry including AquaMaof, Pure Salmon’s RAS technology partner.
This phase represents a total production target of 40,000 tonnes per annum and will be delivered by Pure Salmon’s growing team of experts including specialists in aquaculture, salmon, RAS technology, sales and marketing, construction planning and execution, and finance and accounting. The Pure Salmon management team is being brought together in a new global headquarters to be based in Abu Dhabi’s financial centre, ADGM (Abu Dhabi Global Market), which will create a centrally located hub from which the Pure Salmon vision will be realised in local markets around the world.
Whilst the RAS facility in Poland is already up and running, the first three new-build projects – Japan, France, and the USA – are progressing according to their respective timelines, with the Japan project being most advanced in terms of design, permitting and other preparations, and where it is expected Pure Salmon will break ground in early Summer 2020. Pure Salmon is also working with Nippon Koei, Japan’s leading engineering consultant towards that goal. Completion of works is expected by late 2021 with the first harvest planned for 2023.
Pure Salmon’s project in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, is moving quickly with strong support from the local authorities. The French Government has offered a Fast Track process to obtain all necessary permitting by Autumn this year. Pure Salmon has contracted three local specialist companies to execute geotechnical studies, hydrogeological studies and permit application assistance. As both Japan and France are 10,000 tons projects, the French facility will share many common design features of the Japanese facility, which helps the design process to be quicker. The company is in discussions with construction partners with a view to break ground before year-end, provided the permitting is completed as expected.
