Emissions-reducing hatchery shortlisted for green award
Scottish Sea Farms (SSF) has been shortlisted from more than 100 entries for a major environmental award.
The salmon farmer’s Barcaldine Hatchery has been recognised in the Carbon Reduction Award category of the Scottish Green Energy Awards 2021, announced today.
The awards showcase Scotland’s renewables sector, honouring “the people, organisations and communities going above and beyond towards achieving net-zero”.
Biomass energy system
The health of farmed fish and the environment have been the key drivers behind the investment in the hatchery at Barcaldine, near Oban, said SSF, which is jointly owned by Norwegian salmon farmers SalMar and Lerøy.
Among the greener approaches in operation is a 600kW biomass energy system. Supplied by AMP Clean Energy, it uses locally sourced, sustainably managed wood chip to provide the 17,500m² hatchery with much of its heat and hot water, saving 683 tonnes of carbon annually compared with oil. That’s the equivalent of 6 million miles by car.
As well as reusing 98% of the fresh water used to grow juvenile salmon in a recirculating aquaculture system (RAS), the Barcaldine facility uses heat pumps and heat exchangers to adjust the water temperature in the fish tanks. These are energy-efficient alternatives to traditional kerosene boilers or electric chillers, with the added ability of recovering heat from wastewater for re-use elsewhere in the growing process.
Charging points
Elsewhere on-site, further efficiencies are being made via motion sensor LED internal lighting; wind and solar powered external lighting supplied by Autonomous iOt; and electric vehicle charging points to encourage uptake amongst staff.
Provision has also been made for a hydro-electric scheme so that the hatchery can meet more of its energy requirements in a greener way.
Inclusion on the Scottish Green Energy Awards shortlist follows hard on the heels of SSF being awarded a VIBES Good Practice Award for its successful pilot of a bespoke hybrid power system aboard one of its feed barges, dramatically reducing fuel consumption and carbon emissions. SSF is also among 12 companies shortlisted by the VIBES for an Outstanding Achievement Award.
The winners of this year’s Scottish Green Energy Awards will be announced at a black-tie awards ceremony on the evening of Thursday, December 2 at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.
