Mowi has already invested in several closed containment facilities .
Photo: Mowi.
Mowi is preparing to expand its use of closed containment technology, with the company stating in its third quarter 2025 results that it will order four new post-smolt facilities in western Norway.
The move follows the Norwegian government’s introduction in October of an environmental technology incentive scheme designed to enable farmers to regain previously withdrawn biomass licences in red zones of the country’s traffic light system, as long as the fish are raised in closed systems that meet specific environmental standards.
Mowi reported that 10.5 of its licences had been revoked under the traffic light framework, which regulates production according to environmental indicators such as sea lice levels.
The company confirmed that it has already invested in six closed facilities for producing larger post-smolt, "in order to improve harvest volumes, cost and survival rate."
The four additional sea-based units are to be deployed in Mowi's Region West for the production of post-smolt, the company said, without specifying the timeframe. The units will enable Mowi to recover 2.6 licences, according to details published during its Q3 presentation.
The company has been investing heavily in post-smolt infrastructure on both land and sea, including a new NOK 600m land-based facility at its freshwater site in Haukå, Norway, which the company said would "become one of the world’s most extensive post-smolt facilities."
At the time of the facility's inauguration in May, Mowi stated that it had "invested almost two billion kroner in three facilities along the coast so far, with plans to invest in four other facilities that will increase the number of post-smolts by a further 20 million."
More recently, through its acquisition of Nova Sea, Mowi has also become the majority owner of a new post-smolt land-based facility in Kilvik, northern Norway. The 6,000 tonne RAS facility is expected to have its first postsmolt delivery in the second quarter of 2026, with full production expected in 2027.
Other major salmon farming companies have also recently made new investments in closed aquaculture technology in the wake of the new incentive scheme.
SalMar and Lerøy Seafood recently announced they are jointly commissioning six Aquatraz C2 units supplied by Seafarming Systems, which the companies claim will roughly double Norway’s total capacity for closed production.
SalMar CEO Frode Arnsten said earlier this month that “If everything goes according to plan, the first fish will be released into these units in the first quarter of 2027, with full operation from 2028.”