about us
History
Founded in 2020 by industry experts Hugo Wikström and Elena Petukhovskaya, Big Akwa was created with a mission to address the low level of local seafood production through sustainable practices.
From the outset, the company has focused on circular solutions between the fish farm and the process industry, turning industrial waste into valuable resources. The usage of new technology, sharing resources and infrastructure presents a novel opportunity to improve the environmental footprint of the fish farm and industrial partner, and to decreased capital investments and production costs.
Big Akwa Vision
The Big Akwa vision is to become an international seafood producer recognized as a leader when it comes to circular and competitive seafood production, transforming aquaculture through industrial symbioses to drive efficiency, minimize waste and maximize profitability.
The Journey
Big Akwa was founded in 2020 by Hugo Wikström and Elena Petukhovskaya with a clear mission: to transform an aquaculture industry by introducing industrial simbioses.
Our first project is taking place in the Northern part of Sweden. The trout farm will share resources and infrastructure (energy, oxygen, logistics, water) with a green hydrogen plant operated by RES Nordics (RES is the world’s largest independent renewable energy company).
Through 2021-2022 we have secured important partnership agreements and grants, optimized the process through technology verification. Parallel to that we were evaluating the best industrial partner and the best location for the first fish farm.
From 2023 the company is in pre-construction Phase, engaged in jurisdictional and pre-construction works. Upon the operational permit receival in 2025 we aim to build and put into operations a
6 000 tons annual capacity rainbow trout farm 2027.
To further develop the project to a higher level of circularity our next step is to produce Single Cell Protein (SCP) on-site, utilizing fish farm nutrients and waste oxygen from the hydrogen plant. This innovative approach, aimed at cost-efficient SCP production for feed, is being developed with top experts in the field.
Awards
Swedish Impact maker
TOP 50 the most influential startups in Scandinavia
Start up of the year in Härnösand
Company of the year “Connect Nord“
