Producing micro-algea for fish feed at Hellisheidi geothermal plant, Iceland
Hellisheidi geothermal power plant by Reykjavik Energy, Iceland (source: flickr/ thinkgeoenergy, creative commons)
Alexander Richter
2 Mar 2020
To produce micro-algae at the Hellisheidi geothermal power plant in Iceland, Algaennovation tapped into Icelandic engineering firm Mannvit services to design and build production facilities that will help produce algae to be used for fish feed.
Icelandic engineering company Mannvit, shared an interesting overview on a micro-algea production facility being set up at the Hellisheidi geothermal power plant near Reykjavik, Iceland.
Algaennovation micro-algea in Iceland is producing feed for small fish. Mannvit is the engineering firm that has worked with Algaennovation on installing their state-of-the-art facility in Iceland.
Algaennovation is a company that has been developing new technologies for growing micro algae. Mannvit worked on the engineering for the construction of the company’s facilities located in Geothermal Park ON at the Hellisheidi geothermal industrial park. Mannvit is responsible for all engineering design, control systems engineering, procurement and project management for the production facility. The production will initially be sold as feed for fish farming, but production could be developed for human consumption. The project is a very positive step towards further utilization of the energy used by ON at the Hellisheidi Geothermal Power Plant, where Algeaennovation buys hot and cold water, electricity and carbon dioxide for the production. The production is an important step towards a waste to value cycle and sustainability in Iceland.
The production process has a negative carbon footprint, meaning it uses CO2 for the algae growth and as a result, more CO2 goes into the production of the biomass than it releases into the atmosphere.
As part of the project, Mannvit worked on structural and electrical engineering, HVAC, Design, programming and commissioning of control systems, and project management.
About Algaennovation
Algaennovation offers consistent year round supply of high Omega-3 algae, that improve the survival and growth rate of fish larvae, crustaceans and mollusks, resulting in overall improvement of their nutritional composition. Algaennovation’s patented, indoor, controlled and optimized process requires less than 1% of the fresh water, 1% of the land compared to a conventional omega-3 production facility. It is also carbon negative. In addition, the new facility is located at one of the world’s largest geothermal power plants in Iceland, Hellisheidi geothermal plant, where it takes advantage of CO2, hot water and electricity from the plant, in a process that is turning waste to value in a sustainable manner. Company website
Source: Mannvit
