Floating Farms for a Sustainable Future Seminar

by Mr. Peter van Wingerden, CEO and Founder of Beladon

With land as a major constraint for farming, cities could also explore floating farms on water bodies such as reservoirs and sea space. This possibility is being translated into reality in Netherlands where Beladon, a Dutch company, has designed a closed-loop modular farming platform that can float on any water body. The platform is made up of individual units which can be scaled by a factor of two to five, and units can be connected with one another to form a mega floating farm. These can be reconfigured to suit specific farming and spatial requirements. Beladon is utilising this concept to pilot the world’s first floating dairy farm in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Currently under construction, the three-storey, 1,000 square metres floating dairy farm will be able to accommodate 40 cows on the top floor and produce approximately 800 litres of milk daily. The dairy processing, feed production and manure storage will be located on the two lower floors. This floating farm’s closed-looped system will integrate water supply and treatment, energy generation, waste processing, and feed production. This dairy farm is part of Rotterdam’s planned floating farm strip that could potentially expand to include a chicken, goat, and vegetable farm

by Mr. Leow Ban Tat, Founder & Managing Director of AME2 

Worldwide, aquaculture is a booming business as wild catch is fast diminishing  while the fish consumption will increase by 20%.  In 2016, about 47% of fish are farmed and by 2030 with 60%  aquaculture production and most will be sea cultivation (FA0 2018).  Over 88% of this increase in aquaculture production will originate from the Asian region (FA0 2018).  This growth potential provides opportunities for Singapore to be the Centre of Excellence for Aquaculture. AME2 has developed an innovative and disruptive technology, we called it, Novel Offshore Advanced Hull system (NOAHs) Eco-Ark®, a closed containment flow through (EA-CCFT).  It is a sustainable high density floating fish farm.  It incorporates game-changing technology, which will set the standard for the global aquaculture’s food-fish production. Eco-Ark® is cost effective and has greater efficiency in (a) sea space optimization, (b) energy utilization, (c) human resource utilization, and (d) environmental management.   In summary, it can produce higher yields in a smaller footprint, use less energy and eco-friendly compared to any conventional sea fish farming methodology available today.  Eco-Ark®’ s NOAHs hull can be build of varying materials, not just steel or concrete.  Also designed & engineered to be unmanned and withstand harsh environments in deeper sea. This makes Eco-Ark® farm deployable in coastal and deep sea farming site.

by Assistant Professor Dr. Shinji Sato, Nihon University

In this paper, by using “aquaculture possibility: algae energy / useful substance extraction” and “algae marine biomass production system: industrialization using algae marine biomass” by using aquaculture technology making use of regional characteristics We propose a new regional environment recycling type of industry. It is the most important point from the viewpoint of technology development to form “a community symbiosis recycling smart community aiming at marine environment creation cities” by making full use of the features and advantages of coastal areas spreading throughout Japan, especially local cities. In this paper, we will introduce a case study conducted in a corner of the Sakaide City Industrial Park of Sakaide City, Kagawa Prefecture facing the Seto Inland Sea, in order to make full use of the benefits of the ocean platform. In this project, we propose to use a fully closed plant factory or algae cultivation factory not as a single unit, but by laminating it and using it in combination. The concept of the basic configuration of this floating type complex plant plant is that the energy collecting device, artificial light plant plant and algae cultivating factory with different functions are collectively housed in a floating type marine platform, and mutual interference So that they do not overlap each other. If it is on land, these factories are to be built in separate buildings on a large site, but with the aim of trying to obtain efficiency and synergistic effect by integrating this factory and integrating the entire system vertically is there.

by Mr. Morten Lund Hoffmann, Managing Director of Multiconsult Asia

Floating structures have proven to be both costs efficient and safe for a number of different purposes. The Norwegian offshore oil and gas industry has successfully developed floating structures for the harsh Norwegian seas for decades. These solutions comprise various types of purposed design concepts, from traditional catenary moored floaters, semi-submersible platforms, to more complex tension leg and Spar platforms. The superstructures include both steel and concrete solutions. These offshore oil and gas technologies have in recent years been applied to developments of floating wind turbines and fish farms, both inshore and offshore. Also, the large Norwegian fjords impose challenges for infrastructure crossings where the water depths restrict traditional bridge solutions and the use of rock tunneling solutions. Recent developments comprise floating bridge solutions with water depths up to 500 m and crossing lengths of 4-5 km. The design basis has proven to be more decisive for the design of floating structures. This includes a range of parameters, including physical environment, bathymetry and ground conditions. Since the 1970’s, Multiconsult has provided innovative technology and project management expertise in the design and engineering of a number of complex floating solutions, from design basis, early design, geotechnical subsea foundations and anchoring, to the structural design of concrete and steel. These structures are located at various places around the world. Multiconsult has also developed a number of numerical engineering tools that are being utilized in developing such floating structures.

by Mr. Gary Wong, Offshore Engineer of Keppel Offshore and Marine (DTG)

We seek urban solutions to overcome limitations in space and resources associated with expanding cities and higher concentrations of populations. The regions at the forefront are coastal cities and island nations. Global warming has also contributed to these challenges by introducing a dynamic geography – rising tides, less predictable and more intense weather and rising temperatures where changes to the physical landscape are shaped through actions of others. A recognized strategy has been to develop and expand the coast line through land reclamation. With recent trends in sustainability and social responsibility, we are exploring sea space utilization in a new light. In the offshore world, there are ‘cities’ in operation for decades. Habitable compounds in remote and harsh environments supporting a small population to drill, produce and support oil and gas operations. There is a strong track record for this technology having been developed, tested and proven for the past 50 years. There is potential for this suite of solutions to be repurposed as urban solutions – when others have become familiar with our technology, gained confidence and knowledge to the level we have become accustomed to in the past 5 decades.