C-Power and Belwind, making use of semi-submerged longlines (backbone 58 m)
that will be held in place by weight anchors at a depth of 5 m under the surface. The
project is mainly funded by private partners and coordinated by Ghent University,
Laboratory of Aquaculture & Artemia Reference Center with the support of the
Alfred-Wegener-Institute (AWI) in Germany. At the same time, another initiative,
Value@sea will start growing seaweeds (Undaria pinnatifida, Saccharina latissima
and Porphyra sp.) in combination with different species of bivalves closer to the
Belgian coast (in front of Koksijde). It will use submerged longlines (backbone
100 m, 1.5 m under the surface) which will be secured with screw anchors. Again,
this project is largely supported by the private sector and coordinated by Ilvo.
2.6.3 Norway
Regarding the cultivation of seaweeds, the report “A new Norwegian bioeconomy
based on cultivation and processing of seaweeds: Opportunities and R&D needs”
(Skjermo et al. 2014) discusses the use of seaweed cultivation in offshore environments as one of the opportunities. When moving off the coast, the authors
evaluate the best opportunity for the seaweed industry to co-use existing offshore
structures, such as wind farms. One driver for the preparation of this study was the
existing problems associated with vast amounts of nutrients originating from salmonid farms. In 2011, the Norwegian Research Council funded a project called
SWEEDTECH, which looked into the development of a cost efficient system in
order to start with large scale offshore seaweed cultivation. This project also
included seaweed seeding strategies, development of carrier material, design and
development of a structural rig as well as the development of alternative deployment and harvesting methods (SES 2015a, b). As an outcome of SWEEDTECH and
as a result of the current development of seaweed cultivation off the coast of
Norway, AquaCulture Engineering AS (ACE) and SINTEF Fisheries and
Aquaculture will establish a new site of 3 ha with an expected yearly production of
1500 t of laminarian macroalgae (ACE 2015).
The company Seaweed Energy Solutions AS (SES) was involved in concepts to
upscale seaweed cultivation off the coast (Bakken 2013). As a consequence, SES
patented (SES 2015a) the first modern structure to enable mass seaweed cultivation on
an industrial scale in Norway. This structure, called Seaweed Carrier (Fig. 2.7a–e), is
described as being a sheet-like structure that basically copies a very large seaweed
blade, moving freely back and forth through the sea from a single mooring on the
seabed. The carrier can withstand rough water, has few moving parts, has low cost and
allows for easy harvesting. The way the carrier has been put into practice to date has
been limited to two major tangible prototypes (SES 2015b): (1) A semi-rigid truss
prototype (90 m long) with 8 carrier nets of 50 m width and 5–10 m depth, which had
been developed for energy-scale, fully mechanized operations. This undertaking is,
however, presently suspended. (2) A flexible hybrid long line system for
semi-exposed water, as used in the 100 t pilot project in Frøya. The carriers were
42
B.H. Buck et al.
that will be held in place by weight anchors at a depth of 5 m under the surface. The
project is mainly funded by private partners and coordinated by Ghent University,
Laboratory of Aquaculture & Artemia Reference Center with the support of the
Alfred-Wegener-Institute (AWI) in Germany. At the same time, another initiative,
Value@sea will start growing seaweeds (Undaria pinnatifida, Saccharina latissima
and Porphyra sp.) in combination with different species of bivalves closer to the
Belgian coast (in front of Koksijde). It will use submerged longlines (backbone
100 m, 1.5 m under the surface) which will be secured with screw anchors. Again,
this project is largely supported by the private sector and coordinated by Ilvo.
2.6.3 Norway
Regarding the cultivation of seaweeds, the report “A new Norwegian bioeconomy
based on cultivation and processing of seaweeds: Opportunities and R&D needs”
(Skjermo et al. 2014) discusses the use of seaweed cultivation in offshore environments as one of the opportunities. When moving off the coast, the authors
evaluate the best opportunity for the seaweed industry to co-use existing offshore
structures, such as wind farms. One driver for the preparation of this study was the
existing problems associated with vast amounts of nutrients originating from salmonid farms. In 2011, the Norwegian Research Council funded a project called
SWEEDTECH, which looked into the development of a cost efficient system in
order to start with large scale offshore seaweed cultivation. This project also
included seaweed seeding strategies, development of carrier material, design and
development of a structural rig as well as the development of alternative deployment and harvesting methods (SES 2015a, b). As an outcome of SWEEDTECH and
as a result of the current development of seaweed cultivation off the coast of
Norway, AquaCulture Engineering AS (ACE) and SINTEF Fisheries and
Aquaculture will establish a new site of 3 ha with an expected yearly production of
1500 t of laminarian macroalgae (ACE 2015).
The company Seaweed Energy Solutions AS (SES) was involved in concepts to
upscale seaweed cultivation off the coast (Bakken 2013). As a consequence, SES
patented (SES 2015a) the first modern structure to enable mass seaweed cultivation on
an industrial scale in Norway. This structure, called Seaweed Carrier (Fig. 2.7a–e), is
described as being a sheet-like structure that basically copies a very large seaweed
blade, moving freely back and forth through the sea from a single mooring on the
seabed. The carrier can withstand rough water, has few moving parts, has low cost and
allows for easy harvesting. The way the carrier has been put into practice to date has
been limited to two major tangible prototypes (SES 2015b): (1) A semi-rigid truss
prototype (90 m long) with 8 carrier nets of 50 m width and 5–10 m depth, which had
been developed for energy-scale, fully mechanized operations. This undertaking is,
however, presently suspended. (2) A flexible hybrid long line system for
semi-exposed water, as used in the 100 t pilot project in Frøya. The carriers were
42
B.H. Buck et al.