Umeå city, where this aquaculture project, based on circularity principles, will be developed.
Photo: Federico Larsson / Umeå Municipality.
In Umeå, in northern Sweden, a circular land-based fish and shrimp farm where surplus heat from a combined heat and power plant will be used to create an integrated and climate-smart aquaculture system could soon become a reality thanks to a project developed by Umeå University, in collaboration with Umeå Energi, RISE (Research Institutes of Sweden), and the Municipality of Umeå.
The project, which, as mentioned, aims to develop a pilot facility for integrated fish and shrimp farming in Umeå, will begin in spring with small-scale experiments at Umeå Marine Sciences Centre to then be able to build a larger facility integrated in Umeå Energi's CHP plant within a year.
The integrated farming system chosen to carry the land-based fish and shrimp farm out is based on the principles of IMTA (Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture). This means that several species are raised together in a circular system where the byproducts of one species become resources for another, resulting in aquaculture that is more resource-efficient and climate-smart.
Behind this initiative, funded through the EU's research and innovation program Horizon Europe, is Olivier Keech, a researcher in cell metabolism and sustainable food production at Umeå Plant Science Centre at Umeå University, who, at the same time as this project, also received funding for a separate basic research project on multi-trophic farming.
In a release about the project, Umeå University explained that Keech and his students first tested the model about ten years ago. In a one-cubic-meter system, they cultivated everything from fish to carrots and parsley.
Since then, he has continued to develop the idea and the planned shrimp and fish farm at the Dåva cogeneration plant—an industrial and waste management center located north of Umeå, which includes the power plant as well as a waste treatment center—uses the same principle.
It will be a circular aquaculture system with several ponds arranged in succession, where water and nutrients move in a single direction. One pond contains shrimp or fish. Their waste is processed in the next stage by various microorganisms, which then convert it into new nutrients.
"This requires large amounts of data and knowledge. There are biological, physical and economic layers that must work together and in symbiosis with the combined heat and power plant," Keech explained. Thus, the creation of a digital twin is planned to optimize heat and water flows in the system, in close collaboration with Umeå Energi, which, as mentioned, is the supplier of the surplus heat from its power plant.
In the release issued by Umeå Municipality—one of Sweden's fastest-growing cities, currently with 133,000 inhabitants but aiming to reach 200,000 by 2050—the project's promoters state that it is a practical example of industrial and urban symbiosis, where previously wasted resources are transformed into new value.
"We now have the opportunity to practically test how our surplus heat can become the foundation for circular collaboration between several actors – and enable local fish and shrimp farming. With digital tools, we can also optimize the heat flows and create a more resource efficient system," explained Jörgen Carlsson Noël, Business Developer at Umeå Energi AB.
"Installing a facility in Umeå would mean that we can take our aquaculture system from test level to actual production of fish and shrimp. Here, we have the surplus heat, the research environment, and the partnerships needed to scale up the farming in a real, sustainable way," researcher and entrepreneur Olivier Keech continued.
Umeå University, for its part, noted that it has long supported research that contributes to sustainable societal development and the green transition. "Soon, the first steps will be taken towards making Umeå – and eventually perhaps the entire region – self-sufficient in shrimp and fish," its release read.
Hans Lindberg, Chair of the Municipal Executive Committee at Umeå Municipality expressed a similar view. "This is an important step in Umeå's green transition and shows that our work with circular solutions is at a high international level. The initiative strengthens our self-sufficiency, increases resilience, and reduces climate emissions by replacing imported food with local production," he stated.
Awarded EUR 610,000 from the European Union, this project to transform Umeå into a testbed for circular fish and shrimp farming is being carried out within the EU's NetZeroCities program, in collaboration with five other European cities: Espoo (Finland), Prato (Italy), Lagoa – Azores (Portugal), Maribor (Slovenia), and Fingal County Council (Ireland). They will all exchange knowledge on how circular urban systems can contribute to the EU's climate goals.