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Description
The main objective of the Project is to unlock substantial operational and geographic synergies between seaweed cultivation in Norway and Portugal, by jointly exploiting innovative farming strategies. The specific objectives are:(i) to enable a new business unit for ALGAplus by getting access to in Kelp (brown seaweed) through in-house seedling production;(ii) to demonstrate the technical feasibility and assess viability of growing Kelp in Portuguese Atlantic west coast;(iii) to gain access to a valuable red seaweed with strong market pull but inferior cultivation conditions in Portugal;(iv) to increase leverage of both Portuguese and Norwegian SME with respect to market access and strategy.The project focuses on specific actions to unlock the synergies between the two geographic regions Portugal and Norway and know-how of the respective SMEs ALGAplus and SES. Main activities are:(i) design and implemention of a modular hatchery unit at ALGAplus installations in Ílhavo/Portugal with ability to produce commercially relevant volumes of Kelp (brown seaweed) seedlings;(ii) growth trials in sheltered and fully exposed waters, including a pilot scale demonstration;(iii) joint farming operation for Palmaria palmata in Norway, as basis for viability assessment for up-scaling, including in Portugal.(iv) joint analysis of innovative cultivation strategies with mutual relevance for both geographic ends and their leading SMEs.
Summary of project results
The SølKelp project targeted innovative cultivation strategies with mutual relevance for both geographical boundaries and their SMEs, which can benefit from a sustained competitive advantage through the joint implementation of the project. Thus, SølKelp directly responds to the main objective of the Blue Growth program ("increase value creation and sustainable growth in the Portuguese blue economy"). SølKelp also aimed to develop, apply, and commercialize innovative products and technologies, fulfilling the bilateral objective through strengthening cooperation between Portuguese SMEs and R&D entities and a Norwegian SME.
The SølKelp work program was organized into four activities: (i) Management and Exploitation, (ii) Commercial scale Kelp hatchery pilot in Portugal, (iii) Kelp grow-out trials in Portuguese Atlantic water, (iv) Palmaria cultivation pilot in Norwegian water.The first activity included actions of dissemination, characterization, and valorization of the algae produced within the project. The second activity involved expanding the ALGAplus maternity with a module for brown macroalgae – Kelps – which are the most likely species for commercial cultivation in offshore waters. This activity included a know-how transfer component SES-ALGAplus. The third activity coveeds the selection of sites, preparation of material, and placement of experimental buoys in various locations on the Portuguese coast, two of which offshore, to assess the growth of the algae produced in activity 2 in the sea. The last activity (4) involved the preparation and execution of Palmaria palmata cultivation in tanks at SES facilities in Norway. The cultivation of this species is dominated by ALGAplus, but the water characteristic in Norway is more suitable for continuous production, hence there was know-how transfer component from ALGAplus to SES, and at the same time, a component to enable access to raw materials in commercial quantities in the future for ALGAplus.
While in sheltered locations potential is limited, the exposed offshore areas revealed highly promising growth potential. However significant efforts into development of feasible cultivation techniques that resist the occasionally destructive environment are needed to enable large-scale farming. Palmaria cultivation in Norway has also shown to be more challenging than expected, which is why the original plan to decide upon pre-commercial deliveries after the conclusion of the project was discarded, and instead more efforts in improving the biomass quality and cultivation techniques of Palmaria in Norway were invested, with promising results that however need some further development before being ready for up-scaling.
Summary of bilateral results
ProvFrom the outset, the Sølkelp project was designed to have a strong, bilateral component, which was not optional but a key pillar for the project idea. Seaweed Solutions (SES) and ALGAplus are both pioneers in their core activities, SES in Norway for offshore kelp cultivation and ALGAplus in Portugal for red and green seaweed farming in tanks and earthen ponds. Both companies have collaborated in the past and were discussing pathways for intensifying cooperation both on R&D level and by mutually benefiting from each other’s distribution channels. In addition, the idea was to use each other as additional pillar for sourcing raw material, which would be an important step towards security of supply once large customers require certainty. In practice, the joint R&D / mutual knowledge transfer proposed for the Sølkelp project was performed largely as planned, however due to macroeconomic changes and the (fast) market dynamics of both companies did not allow to reinforce the plans and put tangible cooperation into place as originally expected. In the beginning of the project, SES and CIIMAR transferred know-how about kelp cultivation to ALGAplus and gave input to the design and operation of the new nursery chamber, including a technical visit of SES personnel to ALGAplus installations and an internal workshop. Likewise, ALGAplus transferred Palmaria know-how to SES, and in particular for the second cultivation trials in 2023 a technical visit was enabled, significantly contributing to the improvement of results. SES also participated actively in the dissemintation activities, including the webinar for interim project presentation in 2023 and the in-person final event in April 2024.Both companies have obtained relevant new know-how through the cooperation and maintain the newly acquired capacity for potential use once the market demand makes an application interesting.