Algaennovation plant in Iceland
Algaennovation signed a 15-year contract with ON on August 17th, for the purchase of energy and other inputs for micro-algae production, which will be the first of its kind in the world. Mannvit has been working on Algaennovation’s facility since February. Mannvit is responsible for all design, procurement and project management for the micro-algae production facility, located at ON’s Geothermal Park at Hellisheidi Power Plant. What is remarkable about this project is the fact that new facility buys hot and cold water, electricity and carbon dioxide for production, all of which comes from the Hellisheidi geothermal power plant.
Algaennovation is an international technology startup that has been developing new technologies for the production of micro-algae. The first phase of the project will be done this year. Plans are to start production of seafood feed in the middle of next year. If production is successful, it is estimated that the total investment of the project will be multiple billion ISK (millions USD) in the next 5 years.
The project is a very positive step towards further utilization of the energy used by ON at Hellisheiði. In the press release ON states; "Algaennovation micro-algae production will be located in Geothermal Park ON and will be delivered directly from Hellisheidi geothermal plant, environmentally friendly electricity, hot and cold water and carbon dioxide. Collaboration with ON enables Algaennovation to have negative footprints and use less than 1% of freshwater and land areas used by conventional small-scale algae companies in their production. Such output is an important step towards waste to value and will promote sustainable innovation in this country."
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.