Construction of North Sea farm starts after the summer

Securing the project zone is the current priority, but in autumn the real work will start: installing the first mussel lines in the sea. If everything goes according to plan, the first sea farm mussels should be in supermarkets in 2023. In a later phase, oysters and seaweed will also cultivated in the sea farm.

The realisation of the sea farm has not been easy, and, in addition to Colruyt Group, many members and partners of Blue Cluster have played an important role in this innovative project. We would like to elaborate on this:

• IMDC provided the environmental effects report for the sea farm; 
• MULTI.engineering and Ghent University provided the burden calculations of the mussel lines and their foundations in the seabed; 
• DEME acts as a minority shareholder in Westdiep;
• GeoXYZ is responsible for the maritime works in the sea farm.

New website

Additionally, Colruyt has launched a website about the sea farm. You can find information about the planning of the works, the exact location of the sea farm and the efforts made to work as sustainably as possible.

The aim of the website is informing the general public about the sea farm in an accessible way so that people have an accurate image of the ambitions and plans.

Innovation

Colruyt Group is involved in various Blue Cluster projects on aquaculture. There is, for example, the SYMAPA project in the Westdiep zone, that explores potential synergies between the offshore cultivation of mussels, oysters and seaweed and passive fisheries.

The retailer is also committed to sustainable seafood via the projects UNITED (reintroduction of oyster banks and oyster cultivation in offshore wind farms) and BlueMarine³.com (hatchery activities for seaweed, oysters and shrimps).