Nordic Aqua Partners

Yesterday Nordic Aqua Partners AS has launched their 2024 Annual Report and Accounts.

Turning challenges into strength

At the beginning of the year, the company celebrated its first-ever harvest of locally farmed, land-based Atlantic salmon in China. This was a breakthrough for both Nordic Aqua and the Chinese market. Nordic PureAtlantic salmon was introduced to consumers with an overwhelmingly positive market response.

Despite a strong start, 2024 also presented its share of challenges. In July, the company faced an operational hurdle when elevated geosmin levels required the company to pause harvesting, while the team implemented comprehensive corrective measures, improving filtration and water management systems, and de-risking future production.

Back in action

By February 2025, the company successfully re-entered the market with superior-quality salmon. The Chinese market is experiencing a seafood revolution, with demand for high-quality, sustainable protein growing rapidly. In 2024 alone, the Chinese fresh whole salmon market grew 16%, the highest growth among all major global salmon markets.

The appetite for locally farmed, fresh, and sustainable seafood is stronger than ever, and Nordic Aqua is uniquely positioned to capture this opportunity. Its strategic location in Ningbo, within a five-hour reach of over 100 million affluent consumers, provides the company with a competitive advantage. With a unique selling proposition of superior freshness, reduced logistics costs, and a fully integrated local production, it has established itself as a first-mover in one of the world’s most exciting seafood markets.

Scaling up

2024 also marked major advancements in its long-term growth strategy:

Stage 1 (4,000 tonnes) is now fully operational, and further technical improvements have enhanced the reliability of our facility.
Stage 2 (4,000 tonnes) is progressing according to plan, with the first egg inlay completed in Q3 2024 and the first harvest expected in Q3 2026.
Stage 3 (12,000 tonnes) has been formally secured through a 30-year rental agreement, paving the way for expansion to 20,000 tonnes annually. A final investment decision is expected in 2025.

To support this growth, Nordic Aqua has successfully raised NOK 350 million in fresh capital in September and secured a EUR 5.8 million short-term loan facility. Additionally, our new cooperation agreement with Bank of China, signed in November, is a key step in securing long-term financing for expansion.

Avoiding and minimising environmental impacts

In the company’s latest report, it has been able to demonstrate how it is addressing some key planetary food-system pressures, such as climate change and ecosystem degradation, through an innovative business model.

Together with Economics for the Environment Consultancy (eftec) an environmental analysis shows how its land-based Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS) production model located close to market, enables it to reduce scope 3 GHG supply chain emissions by around 76% when compared to Norwegian ASC open-pen farmed salmon imports (mostly from avoidance of downstream air travel). Over time, there is the potential to save more than 210,000 tCO2e emissions from airfreight and ground freight annually, when it comes into full-scale production by 2029.

While GHG emissions will significantly increase as capacity is ramped up, emissions from energy usage could be 79% lower by 2029 through the purchase renewable energy certificates for electricity, as planned. With improved operational efficiencies and renewable energy generation, the ten-year present values of emission allowances (based on the Emission Trading System (ETS) in EU and Chinese jurisdictions) would be 13% lower in EU and in China (for scopes 1, 2 and 3); and as things are, 100% lower for airfreight transportation emissions.

The land-based model is also enabling Nordic Aqua to minimise nutrient loads from farming – nitrogen and phosphorous loads are 88% and 85% lower, as waste generated during production is collected via filtration, compared to liveweight salmon in an open net system (based on a study by Laine et al. 2024). Over a ten-year period, the system could produce around 6,000 fewer tonnes of nitrogen and 600 fewer tonnes of phosphorous compared to an open net system for the same volume of salmon production.

A new chapter

Looking ahead, the company enters 2025 stronger, more experienced, and better prepared than ever. With production ramping up and market demand increasing, Nordic Aqua is optimistic about the road ahead. The focus remains on scaling production, strengthening market penetration, and maintaining a leadership in sustainable land-based aquaculture.

The facility has consistently demonstrated excellent operational performance including the ability to produce fish of 7.0 kg (LW) at commercial scale. To meet demand in the attractive high-end market in China, production has been adjusted from a target weight of 5.3 kg (LW) to 7.0 kg (LW). This shift to the production of large salmon will allow NOAP, to target the top segment of Chinese salmon.

“I want to extend my deepest thanks to our dedicated team, whose relentless efforts made 2024 a year of progress despite the hurdles. To our investors and partners, your confidence and support have been invaluable. And to our customers, we remain committed to delivering a world-class, sustainable seafood experience.” Ragnar Joensen, CEO Nordic Aqua Partners

Further results from our results and the environmental impact study, including sources, can be found in our annual report: https://www.nordicaquapartners.com/en/investor#Reports