Our protein factory is on on board of one of the most advanced factory trawlers in the United States, North Star. This autumn was North Stars’s maiden fishing voyage, but the ships’ home harbor is in Seattle. The factory is our HPP Protein Plant, an Icelandic design and structure. In recent years, Héðinn, has sold various versions of HPP Protein Plants to seven countries, not including Iceland. The total export value is about 40 million euros or about six billion ISK. The processing capacity of the factories is from 10 to 400 tons per day.
In an interview with one of the largest newspaper in Iceland, Fréttablaðið, our sales manager at HPP Solutions Pétur Jakob Pétursson said: “The development process of the HPP protein factory took about 10 years at Héðinn. The prototype was launched in 2017 in the ship Sólberg ÓF-1 from the company Rammi hf. This is a remarkable product where Icelandic design and innovation in the high-tech sector come together”.
Pétur also explained that the strength of the HPP protein factory lies in the fact that it takes up to 30% less space, with 30% fewer components and consumes 30% less energy than tradition fishmeal factories.
“This is by far a much smaller design than products from our main competitors. Traditional fishmeal factories have 21 main components and energy is instead in eight locations. In the HPP plant there are, on the other hand, seven main components and the energy is installed in two places.”
Pétur also pointed out that since the HPP factory is on board the ships there is no fish waste dumped into the sea. “We are talking about 100% utilization of the fish. What was previously thrown away will therefore become a great value. Thus we can increase protein production without fishing more. Today, it is one of the largest environmental issue how we can increase protein production without harming our nature further. By using the catch to its fullness we are showing greater respect for our natural resources and environment. At the same time we return more valuable products”.
