Worked example · published figures

Worked example: planning a 1,000-tonne salmon RAS

This is a worked example, not a buyer project. It walks through the planning numbers for a land-based Atlantic salmon farm producing 1,000 tonnes a year, using only published figures from a Norwegian university study (NTNU, Bjørndal & Tusvik, 2017, 2016 prices) and a US design manual (NCRAC).

Example assumptions

Farm size: 1,000 tonnes of salmon a year (example size from the NTNU study).
Feed use: about 2,960 kg of feed a day, as modelled in the NTNU study.
Prices: Norwegian kroner (NOK), 2016 levels, as published.

1. Daily oxygen and ammonia load

Salmon use about 0.54 kg of oxygen per kg of feed (NCRAC), so 2,960 kg of feed a day means roughly 1,600 kg of oxygen a day. About 2.9% of feed ends up as ammonia, roughly 86 kg a day. These two loads size the oxygen system and the biofilter.

2. Oxygen running cost

The NTNU study priced oxygen at NOK 2.0–2.5 per kg. At about 1,600 kg a day, that is roughly NOK 3,200–4,000 a day, or about NOK 1.2–1.5 million a year.

3. Build cost

The study put building costs at NOK 149.8 per kg of yearly output for a 1,000-tonne farm, about NOK 150 million in total. At 3,000 and 5,000 tonnes it fell to NOK 118.5 and 115.6 per kg. RAS equipment made up about 45% of the cost; buildings and concrete about 40%.

4. Production cost

Producing salmon cost NOK 38.7 per kg in the study. Feed was 42% of that, other running costs 27%, loan interest and wear on the investment 17%, and staff 6%.

What a buyer can take from this

Scale matters most at the start: going from 1,000 to 3,000 tonnes cut build cost per kg by about 21%.
Feed and oxygen are the loads suppliers size equipment around — ask every bidder to state the feed rate they designed for.
Equipment is under half the build cost, so compare full scopes, not just equipment prices.

All figures are published planning numbers from Norwegian salmon farms at 2016 prices. They show scale and how costs split; they are not a quote for your farm, and no buyer, supplier or result is implied.

Sources

Request quotes RAS equipment RAS design guide Water treatment systems

Short answer

What is the fastest way to get quotes for RAS Salmon Farm?

Submit one structured request for RAS Salmon Farm. FishMatch Group translates it into a technical RFQ, runs a confidential sourcing round with project-matched international suppliers, and returns comparable quotations. No fee is charged to the buyer, and your identity and project details stay private until you choose to proceed.

How it works:: One structured request, human-reviewed before any supplier outreach
Typical turnaround:: Depends on scope and site data; no turnaround is guaranteed
Confidentiality:: Supplier names are never exposed during evaluation
Cost to buyers:: No fee charged to the buyer

What is the fastest way to get quotes for RAS Salmon Farm?

How does FishMatch Group source suppliers for this requirement?

You submit one structured request. We translate it into a technical RFQ, run it against qualified manufacturers and integrators in the relevant categories, and return normalised quotations you can compare side by side on scope, lead time and total cost of ownership.

Do buyers see supplier names during the sourcing process?

No. Supplier identities stay confidential during discovery and evaluation. You receive anonymised, comparable technical and commercial packages, and introductions happen only after both sides are qualified and agree to proceed.

Before you request quotes

Equipment scope

What equipment does a commercial aquaculture project actually need?

A grow-out project typically needs holding infrastructure (tanks, ponds or cages), water movement (pumps, piping, valves), aeration or oxygenation, water treatment appropriate to the system, feeding equipment, grading and handling gear, monitoring and alarms, and backup power. RAS adds mechanical filtration, biofiltration, degassing, disinfection and tighter process control. Hatchery and processing scopes are specified separately.

Which equipment should be specified before requesting quotes?

Specify the items whose sizing changes everything downstream: design biomass and stocking density, water exchange or recirculation rate, oxygen demand at peak temperature, and installed pumping head. With those four fixed, suppliers can quote aeration, filtration, pumps and power on the same basis. FishMatch calculators produce these figures and attach them to the RFQ.

Can equipment be sourced in stages?

Yes, and phased procurement is common. The usual sequence is water supply and holding infrastructure, then aeration and treatment, then automation and monitoring, then processing and cold chain. Staging works when interfaces and capacity headroom are defined at the start; otherwise later phases force replacement rather than addition.

Start a structured RFQ