Yes, a RAS requires a lot of electricity. The consumption depends on species in production, temperature of rearing water, local climate conditions, system heating or cooling, system design, size of system etc. The energy consumption will vary throughout the year or the production cycle as the fish gets bigger. There is also a difference in consumption if it is a Grow-out RAS or a Smolt RAS, the latter being more energy efficient per kg fish produced, mainly because of better feed utilisation in smaller fish resulting in a lower requirement of water treatment.
The RAS system itself uses most of the electricity, such as pumping of water and degassing using air blowers. The cooling of the process water can also be costly as the fish creates heat when they grow. Some farms save energy by passing cold seawater through the heat exchanger to cool down the RAS process water, whereas most farms use electrical chillers for heat exchange.
AKVA group is continuously looking into more energy efficient solutions, making sure that customers are always offered our most energy effective systems.