Seaweed farmer granted $4.5m for giant kelp testbed off California

Faroes and United States seaweed farmer Ocean Rainforest has secured a $4.5 million grant from the US Department of Energy that will enable it to operate an 86-acre, offshore giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) cultivation testbed off the coast of California.

The testbed will allow the Ocean Rainforest team to pioneer the development and demonstration of high yield macroalgal cultivation technologies in true offshore conditions.

The “Technology to Market Plus Up” grant from the Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) is part of the MARINER Program dedicated to advancing sustainable marine agriculture.

In partnership with others in the MARINER Program, Ocean Rainforest will test technologies such as automated and consistent planting, partial harvest technology, upwelling facilitated by system design, and automated monitoring that will advance the industry toward economically feasible open-ocean cultivation.

Pilot processing

The Plus Up award will also enable pilot processing of biomass from the offshore site and facilitate process optimisation for target market segments, such as bio stimulants and functional feed ingredients, that can reduce the carbon footprint in the food and feed supply chain.

Ocean Rainforest chief executive Olavur Gregersen said the company was grateful to its funders, project partners, and team for their support and hard work in earning the grant.

“This award from ARPA-E’s Mariner Program signifies a powerful endorsement of our vision and dedication to creating a more sustainable future,” said Gregersen, who will be the keynote speaker on the second day of the Scottish Seaweed Industry Association’s annual conference next month.

The conference at the Corran Halls, Oban, runs from November 14-16.