Cooke Aquaculture deploys their first hybrid feed barge

Cooke Aquaculture Scotland has just received a hybrid feed barge at their Mill Bay site in Stronsay, Orkney, which was delivered to them by aquaculture supply company Gael Force Group in partnership with Fjord Maritime who are responsible for developing the hybrid technology.

The hybrid feed barge is designed to reduce carbon emissions, as an auxiliary diesel generator will be in operation only to recharge batteries on the barge, which is then used to power the barge and seawater site.

The design of the feed barge dates back to 2019, when Cooke conducted a review of barge power as belonging to their ISO 14001 environmental management objectives, to explore alternative sources of power to supply their seawater sites in Orkney and Shetland. Consequently, the hybrid battery solution creates an automated power supply and optimises use of generators, batteries, electrical drives and control systems.

This will reduce generator run time by up to 90 percent and fuel consumption up to 60 percent, totalling carbon savings of approximately 146 tons of CO2 every year, which is equivalent to removing 55 cars from our roads each year.

This marks the first hybrid barge that Cooke have deployed in the UK, and the first time for Fjord Maritime that their hybrid technology has been deployed outside of Norway. Fjord Maritime's hybrid technology has been deployed on over 100 barges in Norway in recent years, affirming that it is a tried and tested technology. 

Image credit: Cooke Aquaculture Scotland

"Cooke Aquaculture is committed to sustainability," explains Stewart Rendall, North Isles Manager at Cooke Aquaculture. "Farm-raised already have one of the lowest carbon footprints but there is always more we can do to minimise any impact on the environment and play our part in tackling climate change."

He went on to add it was a "significant investment," and they had "a high degree of confidence" in the technology.

From Fjord Maritime, Øyvind Bakke, Chief Commercial Officer says, "To better manage power supplies for fish farms, Fjord Maritime developed the Fjord Hybrid solution. Fjord Hybrid automates power generation and supply for fish farms, optimising all aspects of operation and reducing generator running time by up to 90 per cent.

"Fjord Maritime would like to thank Cooke Aquaculture Scotland for the trust given us as a supplier. We highly appreciate the opportunity to optimise the energy production and reduce the greenhouse gases on the new built barge." 

Concluding, Jamie Young, Sales Director at Gael Force called it a "close partnership" with Cooke Aquaculture, stressing the "importance of sustainability."

"We believe this will be the start of a program of retrofitting these hybrid systems to existing barges in Scotland and will become the norm in fitting out our new barge builds in steel and concrete."