Okay, Good Morning everyone, and Welcome to this update from Andfjord Salmon. My name is Martin Rasmussen, and I am the CEO of the company. Today's presentation will be held in English only, and it's a combination of a physical presentation here in Oslo, combined with a webcast solution. Together with me, we have our Project Director, Jostein Nilssen, and our CFO, Bjarne Martinsen. We will have a Q&A after the presentation, and you can submit questions through the webcast solution. Please be seated. Today's agenda is, as always, first a brief introduction to Andfjord Salmon, and we will then look at the highlights from the quarter and subsequent events. Jostein will provide you a status of the build-out at Kvalnes, and we will look at Kvalnes Phase 2, plans and ambitions.
Bjarne will cover the financials, and we will end the presentation with a summary and outlook and Q&A. First, an introduction to Andfjord Salmon. Our ambition is to build the world's most fish and environmentally friendly facility for Atlantic salmon, with a mission to serve salmon with a clear conscience. The concept is the best from traditional salmon farming in the sea, combined with the benefits of being on land. We are located at Andøya, where we have endless access for seawater where the salmon has been swimming in many thousand years, which means that it holds the perfect temperature profile. It has a stabilized salinity, is oxygen-rich, which allows us to have a very energy-efficient production method for Atlantic salmon. On land, we do not have any issues with salmon lice, algae, jellyfish, because we are sourcing the water well below the depth where this organism is living.
The fish cannot escape, and we can control the organic waste since we have a closed facility. We are building the pools below sea level, and the reason for that is to avoid working against gravity. The principle is that we are pushing the water through the pools instead of lifting the water. Imagine that you are pushing 10 or 20 or 50 liters of water in a bathtub. This is quite easy compared to lifting it. More lifting is more muscle, higher CapEx, and also higher energy consumption, which is higher OpEx. We have 4.4 kilometers with tunnels below ground to supply an enormous amount of water to all our pools on land. On land, this is very similar to net pens, but on land, where we can control and we can protect the fish against external factors, like, for example, salmon lice.
We can also protect the environment with having such a high biomass in one concentrated place. We have a square pool because we have our own method to create a laminar water flow, and we are creating a cross-section of the Gulf Stream on land. Large pools with enough space for the fish can have a natural behavior, and we can collect the organic waste with cleaning ROVs at the pool floors. It is not a coincidence that we are located at Andøya, because Andøya is the land area in Norway that is closest to the Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream is giving us warmer water during the winter compared to the temperature we have from the coastal currents.
If we would have been a traditional salmon farmer in our area, we would have had two to four degrees colder temperatures on the water compared to what we achieved. Our first production cycle, REMAT, demonstrated the potential with having the vicinity of the Gulf Stream. We have very strong operational performance from the first production cycle, and this is not just a test and a pilot. This is a full-scale production with 650 tons of salmon in one batch. After one year of production, we achieved a survival rate of 97.5%. This demonstrates that the concept is working very well on behalf of the biology, which is the most important. Another very important experience is the feed conversion rate, which is the highest cost you have as inset cost you have as a salmon farmer, which ended up at 1.05.
We had a better growth compared to our initial production plan because we have a steady state production every day. We're not affected by a winter storm, an algae bloom, or predators, and also the impact with having the Gulf Stream so close to us. We also have proven that we can produce salmon with very low electric costs and have proven that we can produce one kilo of salmon within one kilowatt hour. We have proven that we can have a high price on the salmon and also a high quality and a superior share. Now over to the highlights from the quarter. Kvalnes Phase 1 is on track. After two years with the development of the technology with our supplier, Cflow, we have developed now a solution to increase the production capacity with 20%.
We have initiated the construction of Phase 2 A, four new pools, in addition to the first five in Phase 1. Financially, we have secured a NOK 1.4 billion package with bank loan, sale and leaseback, and private placement. Our design on the pools considers regulatory change to handle regulatory risk in the future. I will leave the word over to Jostein, and he will give you a good description of an introduction of what we're doing at Kvalnes. Before that, I will also show you a movie from the island.
All right, thank you, Martin. As the illustration shows, really just to emphasize that the Phase 1 is the four first pools, K1 to K4 in the frontier. In addition, you have the tunneling systems, the harbor area, and all the technical infrastructure as well. That is part of the Phase 1 project.
The phase further back, you see the Phase 2A, that is the next four pools. At the end, you have the Phase 2 B, that are the four last pools that we are currently building at Kvalnes. All right, our inlet and outlet tunneling system, the waterways, where are we at with that? We have now completed and allowed that we have fresh water available to support an annual production of 48,000 tons of salmon. The work stream is on track, meaning that in just over a year, we have produced 4.4 km of tunnels. On the outlet tunnel, we only have the breakthrough into sea remaining. For the inlet tunnel, we have 70 m left before we then are to the breakthrough into sea. All the infrastructures for the tunnels below the pools are now completed as well.
The remaining part now is the concrete work in the tunnels that are ongoing. This is infrastructure to handle the breakthrough into sea and also for us to allow the routing of water. We are focusing on that when we have the breakthrough, we would like to route the water up into a safe area, meaning that we are using the access tunnels, taking the wave of the water following the breakthrough. We are routing that up the access tunnel. That is the reason why we are now running concrete works in the tunneling system. We plan for the breakthrough for both the inlet and the outlet tunnel in Q2, and that will be coordinated based on the overall progress with the project. The infrastructure and the interfaces between the tunnels and pools are in place.
This means that we have now built four vertical inlet shafts bringing the clean seawater into the pools, and then we have six vertical outlet shafts taking the water from the pools back into sea again. For that to happen, as you can see on this picture, these are the inlet shafts where the fresh water is coming in. You have on the other side of the pool, you have the outlet shafts where the water from the pools are leaving. The pools are built back to back so that they share a common outlet and a common inlet. Also, if you look at the areas next to the shafts, those are the areas where we have taken height for that we in the future potentially would have to deal with disinfection and the treatments of inlet water and potential outlet water.
These are the areas that we have included already now in our construction work to allow for that to happen based on whatever regulatory issues we could face in the future. Also, if you look at the people working next to there, you get an idea about the dimensions of the pool and the constructions that we are currently performing. Where are we at with the pool construction? We are on track. The UHPC, the ultra-high performance concrete that we put on the wall element, are working now very good. We do that in a factory. I will come a bit back to the reason why we are using the UHPC, but that is working very well now. The production in our factory is going very well.
All the support functions now, the columns and the supports have been prepared and are in place for both K1 and K3 pool, allowing us to start assembling all the wall elements now. We are almost 80% complete in the K1 pool now. All those wall elements have been put in place in a 14-day period because when you have stacked up all those elements, to actually have them assembled is done very quickly. The use of ultra-high performance concrete on the wall elements, making it very smooth, allows us not to use traditional coating. I hope there are no coating experts or coating manufacturers here at site or in the audience, but we honestly think that this is a way better solution. We add on this surface in the factory.
The duration of that, we will not have to maintain it or repair it for they have guaranteed 100 years. We say that, okay, if we at least have a few decades before you need to start going in and do repair, that is a huge benefit for us. I will just take you back one slide. If you look at this side, you see the amount of wall elements. These are 50 meters high. There are huge areas that have to be protected against the fish, and you are really dependent on a smooth surface. To have that already in place, not having to do the repair as traditional coating would have to do after four to seven years, you most likely would have to start to do a repair job. These are to be okay and functioning for decades.
Yeah, I won't go further into detail, but the UHPC has been a huge factor for us now. We see that quite a few in the industry are looking at us now for having these types of surfaces in their own systems. The harbor area, we are now dredging the harbor. That is ongoing both through a barge and then from land as well. As you can see now, we have put this temporary breakwater construction at the inlet, and that is really just to protect that ongoing operation, not being weather dependent or whatever, so that that can be ongoing continuously. That temporary will for sure be removed when we start to take the harbor in operation. We're also now preparing to start the key work inside the harbor.
In addition, I can mention that we have already also started with the technical infrastructure that is going into the ground. All the piping goes into the ground from the pool area down to the harbor, and then also through the processing facilities for the sludge handling, the feed handling, and the oxygen handling as well. That is also on track and currently being done. To summarize, the overall progress for the project is very good. Having this tunneling system, 98% completed, being the biggest risk factor for the project, in my thoughts, having that now come this far is very good. Also with the harbor, that is moving along very good. No issue with that. We have ramped up now and are now into peak production for all the concrete work. Lots of concrete work currently going on at Kvalnes.
For sure, with the key focus on completing the pools in the following sequence, K1, K3, K2, and K4. Technical infrastructure as well, moving along very good. In total, the progress for the Phase 1 is very good. In addition, we have also started the phase two A construction, mainly focusing on the technical infrastructure, but also concrete work. With that, I will leave the word back to Martin again.
Thank you, Jostein. It's always encouraging to hear you talking about UHPC and concrete. Now we will go through our plan on how we will optimize the construction, reduce regulatory risk, and utilize the pool capacity, resulting in higher production volumes and lower operational risk. Kvalnes phase two plans and ambitions. As Jostein said, very good progress and momentum for Phase 1, allowing us to have a very convenient transition to the next phase.
Infrastructure, machinery, and expertise can now be directly moved to the next phase, ensuring no interruption in the construction. We have continuously worked to optimize the construction. Even if we divide the project into phases, it is clearly most optimal to view the entire Kvalnes project as one project. This means that while Phase 1 is being completed, we will start the next phase, which includes a total of nine pools and fish logistics systems for the entire Kvalnes area. Two years of developing the concept together with our suppliers have absolutely resulted in finding better solutions, both operationally and technologically. What we now have developed is assistance for moving the fish between the pools in a very fish-friendly manner. Good utilization of capacity largely depends on logistics without compromising on the fish welfare and the quality.
In the original design, the logistics were characterized by an operation with a lot of manual adjustment of the system to move the fish. While the fish have to be pumped from the pool walls, and this requires pumps, and it's much more stressful handling of the fish. Additionally, we didn't have the flexibility to move the fish between all units, as we now achieve with the new system. In summary, this gives us flexibility for more splitting of the fish and a reduction of the operational risk. The total effect of this system, including the postsmolt, is an increased production capacity of 20%. At the 10,000 tons MIB, we are targeting an annual production of 23,700 tons. The volume is hog and postsmolt. With a higher MIB, we will have a production capacity and target for 28,800 tons in 12 plus one pool.
The main reason why we're now investing in this system is that it will be installed underground, which means that it must be done now to avoid extensive work later. When we have the pools below sea level and move the fish below the water into the pools, we can very easily move the fish from one pool to another. The principle is to have higher water level in one pool and then use the gravity to move the water and the fish from one pool to another. This is the easiest and fish-friendliest way to move a fish. Very similar to how you are moving the fish from one net pen to another net pen in the sea without whale boats.
The result, it's much better flexibility, and we can move the fish more often, and also we can have a much lower operational risk. Our MIB, or our production volumes, largely depends on how we can utilize our MIB permit. With better flexibility in the logistics system and the higher capacity of the flow-through in the pool, we can increase our MIB utilization from 86%-88% to 90%-93%. As I mentioned in the previous slide, we will, of course, work in parallel to expand the existing permits. In sum, all of this enables a 20% increase production potential at Kvalnes, including our own fish and the fish we sell to traditional salmon farmers as postsmolt. In specific numbers, it means that we are increasing the production potential from 40,000 tons to 48,100 tons.
You can see the breakdown on the various build-out phases on this slide. The Kvalnes business case has definitely become more attractive with these improvements. We have, during the previous updates, talked about Norwegian authorities' proposed change to the regulation for land-based fish farming. One of the proposals is a requirement for disinfection of seawater at water inlet. In our response to the authorities, we highlighted that there is a knowledge gap regarding the connection between fish welfare, biosecurity, and the seawater's natural microbiological composition. This gap must be addressed before the authorities implement functional requirements that will significantly influence how we produce fish on land. We also highlighted that a one-size-fits-all approach to disinfection of inlet water is unnecessary because prevention of infection to surrounding aquaculture facilities is already safeguarded by current distance requirements between land-based facilities discharge points and surrounding facilities.
Hence, it is our view that more knowledge about effects and impacts must be obtained before a general disinfection requirement is introduced. This applies to treatment of both inlet and outlet water. However, we cannot risk putting us and our shareholders in a position where we must rebuild the facility at a later stage to accommodate for potential disinfection requirements. We have therefore proactively upgraded all 12 Phase 1 and phase two pools, which include treatment chambers for both inlet and outlet waters, as well as significantly reinforces the pool concrete structure. You did see the dimension of the picture earlier when Jostein showed you the slides on the constructions. As such, until we fully prepare to retrofit water treatment equipment in case of future water cleaning requirements. Over to Bjarne and the financial details.
Thank you, Martin. First, the Q4 financial figures were made public two weeks ago in connection with the capital increase we did. Today's presentation will be focused on the financing of the construction steps. For those of you who would like to go into details about the Q4, these are included in the appendix to the presentation. The investment in Step 2A at Kvalnes is now fully financed with a combination of equity, bank loan, and sale leaseback of the harbor. This also includes CapEx related to the improvements in the project that Martin presented. These improvements lead to a significant increase in the production capacity at Kvalnes. When the Kvalnes site is fully built out, the production capacity will be 48,000 tons. This is an increase of 20% from the previously presented 40,000 tons.
As a result of the increased production capacity, the CapEx per kilo is also reduced to NOK 105 per kilo. When we first launched the build-out at Kvalnes, close to two years ago, we presented a five-step plan for the complete build-out of Kvalnes. The construction project that is now ongoing that Jostein gave details about with 12 new pools is Step 1 and two of this plan. Step 1 is four new pools ready for production this year. This also includes infrastructure for the area, such as the harbor area and the waterways, both supporting the entire Kvalnes site for the full capacity, and also rock pits for the first 12 pools. All the blasting work for Step 1 and two will be complete during this Step 1 and before we start operations.
Step 2A includes an additional four pools ready next year in 2026. Step two will be complete in 2027 with 12 new pools, 13 in total. The production capacity will be close to 24,000 tons with the current license and with an increased license. The actual capacity of the facility will be close to 29,000 tons yearly production. We have now financed Step 1 and Step 2A of this plan. When this is complete during next year, the production capacity will be 17,000 tons yearly production. The capacity of 17,000 tons on Step 1 and 2A is an increase of 4,000 tons from the previously communicated capacity. This is a result of the improvements in the project that we've done. The CapEx related to the improvements in Step 2A is NOK 350 million.
The output from this investment is an increased production capacity of 4,000 tons yearly production. If we assume an EBITDA of around NOK 15 per kilo, then the additional production capacity of 4,000 tons will give NOK 200 million in yearly EBITDA, increased yearly EBITDA. The payback time of the extra investment is below two years. This is based on an assumption of OpEx of around NOK 48 per kilo on an EBITDA level. If we then assume sales price around NOK 98 per kilo, this will give that calculation. It is a highly profitable investment to do these improvements, have this extra investment, and get the extra output. The financing of Step 2A includes a new bank loan of NOK 400 million. This is a construction loan, and it is given by the same bank syndicate that we have already on Step 1.
It is SpareBank 1 Nord-Norge as a lead bank in the syndicate together with SpareBank 1 Sør-Norge and SpareBank 1 SMN. Eksfin is also included in the bank syndicate. The new loan is NOK 400 million as a construction loan. This is on the same structure and the same terms as the previous loan. This is a construction loan that will be converted into a term loan when the construction period is over. After that, we will have a two-year amortization holiday before we have a repayment profile of 12 years when we start paying installments. We also do a sale leaseback of the harbor. I will get back to the details, but this also affects the bank loan. When Step 2A is complete, the total bank debt will be NOK 1.1 billion.
We will use NOK 200 million from the sale of the harbor to repay bank loan from Step 1. That will reduce, initially we had NOK 900 million in bank loan and a new construction loan of NOK 400 million, that is NOK 1.3 billion, but then we pay back NOK 200 million. It will result in total debt of NOK 1.1 billion after Step 2A. We sell the harbor to Asset Buyout Partners for NOK 400 million, and we lease it back on an 80-year contract at 7.5% yield adjusted for CPI. This is a transaction that makes sense for Andfjord Salmon. The harbor is an important asset. We need a protected harbor to have undisturbed transport of fish into the facility, out of the facility. We will also transport feed by boat when the volumes start to get high enough.
In the beginning, we will have received feed by car, but with high volumes, we are also dependent on boat transport for feed and also to use boat transport to transport organic waste out of the facility. This is an important asset, but it's not an asset we need to own. To sell this and to make sure we have the operational control of the harbor is a transaction that makes sense, and it also contributes with NOK 200 million to the financing. We use NOK 200 million to pay back loan, and the remaining NOK 200 million is a contribution to the financing for Step 2A. The CapEx of construction Step 2A is NOK 1 billion, 150 million in total. This includes the improvements in concrete reinforcements, also technical infrastructure related to water flow and fish logistics.
In addition to the CapEx, we also have operational equipment that we have also financed now, amounting to around NOK 200 million in total. The total financing is NOK 1 billion, 350 million. The financing consists of the equity raise that we did two weeks ago, NOK 600 million, the new construction loan from the banks of NOK 400 million, and the contribution from the harbor financing of NOK 200 million. In addition to that, a lease financing for equipment that is suitable for leasing of NOK 175 million. That is the total financing package for Step 2A, also then including operational equipment. The capital raise that we did now two weeks ago once again demonstrated the strong and supportive shareholder group that Andfjord Salmon has.
It has been important for the company during the last couple of years to attract industrial investors, to have the right composition of owners that also can contribute with financing, but also with more than financing. We succeeded quite well with that. The larger shareholder, Jerónimo Martins, a large retailer based in Portugal and with operations in several countries, especially in Poland, Portugal, and Colombia. They first invested in Andfjord Salmon in 2022, been present in the board since, and really made a big contribution to the development of the company. With money, of course, financing is important, but also with more than that, it has been a really good story with the cooperation with them. This is, of course, a large system. Their revenues in 2024 were above EUR 33 billion. Their contribution to the capital increase that we did now was NOK 226 million.
Their ownership share will be at 30% when the transaction is complete. We are also really pleased to have High Liner Foods as one of our main shareholders. High Liner is based in Canada and a processor and distributor of seafood in the North American market. Their motivation for investing in Andfjord is exploring opportunities related to distribution of Andfjord Salmon products and also to explore other opportunities together. They also contributed strongly now in the capital raise with NOK 114 million, and their ownership share will be 8.1% when the transaction is complete. It is also worth mentioning Eidsfjord Sjøfarm, a large conventional sea-based farmer in the same region where Andfjord Salmon is located, part of the Holmøy Group. They produce 30,000 tons of salmon each year. It is a big salmon producer. Their motivation for being a shareholder in Andfjord is operational cooperation.
There are several opportunities that we can cooperate for the benefit of both parties. For example, Andfjord Salmon will buy smolt from Eidsfjord Sjøfarm. Eidsfjord Sjøfarm will buy postsmolt from Andfjord to release into their sea-based facilities. They have also built a brand new slaughterhouse that Andfjord will use for the next harvest. A lot of opportunities, and they will maintain an ownership share of above 4% after this transaction. With that, I'll leave the word back to Martin for a summary and outlook. Yeah.
Thank you very much. Kvalnes Phase 1 is on track. We have developed a solution to increase production capacity with 20%. We have initiated the construction of phase 2A. Financially, we are in a very good position with a private placement, sale and leaseback, and a bank loan of total NOK 1.4 billion.
We are on track to start the smolt release in the third quarter. We are ready for the Q&A, and you can ask questions here in the audience, or you can submit questions through our webcast solution.
Thank you, Martin. Any questions from the audience? If not, please raise your hand. I saw someone here.
Christian Albeha at Tech Securities. Can you comment a bit on how you think about the EBITDA per kilo on postsmolt versus full-grown salmon?
Yes. If you assume that you have an unlimited market for postsmolt, that will be highly profitable. The EBITDA per kilo will be slightly higher for postsmolt. Of course, for human grade, you will have a great market. You can access the world markets, and in that sense, it is a more secure and lower risk related to that.
For Andfjord with agreements with sea-based farmers where we agree on volumes, the postsmolt will have a good profitability. It's also important that these cooperations that we will have is for the benefit of both parties. Two plus two should be five. That's the aim for that cooperation. Isolated, postsmolt will be very profitable.
The way I understand is it's fair to assume the similar EBITDA per kilo on both? Yeah, that would be fair, yes. Thank you.
It's a good price on that postsmolt. It's also very beneficial for us to have this as a supplement to the human grade. For us, the best way to have this in our concept is to have a balanced solution and a long-term partnership together with strong seafood salmon farmers.
We'll do a question from the webcast. Question for you, Bjarne. Are the terms on the new construction loan same as on the loan related to phase 1?
Yeah, it's the same terms and same structure as we had on the phase 1, as I also mentioned in the presentation. Yeah. Yeah.
Simon Brunns, Bjarne Martinsen. On the incremental volumes from the design improvements on phase, well, related to both phase and 2, how is the split between postsmolt and sort of like full-grade for human consumption? Is the incremental volumes driven by sort of like the optimized setup allowing for more fish, or is it higher densities, or is it a combination?
Yeah, it's a combination. You have a better flexibility to release more smolt into the pool, and you can have a better utilization of the pool capacity when you are splitting the fish and dividing the production cycle into more cycles.
I think that this demonstrates how we can utilize the pool capacity better. The postsmolt is, of course, a supplement because you can split the fish in part of the batch into the sea. With this new system, we can have more splitting of the fish divided more often into other pools. We often like to, if you want to put this system into perspective, and production planning is virtually like about playing Tetris. It is different pieces put together into a good plan. This is what our system is giving us. It is a tool to really put the pieces in the correct place. Also higher water. When it comes to capacity, it is all about space for the salmon and also enough water through.
This enables us to have much higher also water consumption through the pools, which also gives us better flexibility in the peak density.
Thank you. I'll talk about the composition of human grade and postsmolt. Of course, human grade is the main strategy. The postsmolt is to add further flexibility and to utilize the capacity in the pool. It will be a stable share of the production, around maybe 20%, but the main part will be, of course, still human grade.
Thank you. Question for you, Jostein. On the photos, you saw there was a gap between the wall elements. How do you prepare to close the gap between the wall elements?
The solution that you put together is really that, as you maybe all of you saw, 50 meters high, and the precision about the sizes there, you will actually put concrete in between first, and then you put a solution tightening or adding the, it's a Sika flex solution that you're putting in between, making sure that you won't have any water going into the outside of the pool. That is a traditional conventional solution that we would use to add that up.
Question to you, Martin. When do you plan on expanding with phase 2B?
We will come back on the specific timing for when we will start on phase 2B. As we see now, we see the benefit to see the project as one since we have the concrete factory here. We have all the personnel from our supplier.
We will come back on the exact timing for finalizing the phase 2B.
Another question. Will blasting of phase 3, and this is even further into the future, interrupt production in phase 2 when you get there?
No, currently no. There are no indications that the blasting of neither the tunnels or the pool pits will affect the production or the ongoing production of salmon in the first phase of the project.
Yeah. If you look at the dimensions there, the length from the first pool to the last one is around 400 meters. So it's over 500 meters to the next phase. The main reason why I did not want to have biology in the first pool combined with this is because the tunnels are going below ground here.
We have had extensive monitoring of the blasting, both when it comes to vibrations, sound, and vibrations, how this is impacting the fish. We are very confident that we can have very good progress on phase 3 in parallel with the production.
Question about fish density. What fish density do you plan for in your current plan and in the longer term? What is the potential optimal density?
Yeah. If you look at the optimal density, I think you have to have two perspectives. The first and the most important one is, of course, the fish welfare, and then you have the economical perspective. When we have said that we earlier had a peak at 40 kilos per cubic, this is very conservative. It is half of what other land-based is targeting. We had the flexibility to have much higher capacity.
In the ramp-up plan, we will go from 30 to 40 kilos per cubic. We had the flexibility to have it well above and the same target as the other salmon farmers on land. If you look at other salmon farmers in Norway, they have very good numbers with these densities. For us, it is very important to have the water flow, the space, and the capacity to have the same peak density as others have. We say that the sweet spot on the density is around from 25 to 35 cubic per kilo in our concept. It is not only because of the fish welfare. This is where we see where we have the most optimal production plan.
Thank you. There are a couple of questions about pools, the four first pools. At what point of time do you foresee that you will be able to have full operations for K1 to K4?
Yeah, the intention is to have them all. It is all based on the production plan as well for how the operation plan their production of salmon. For sure, we intend to have both the pilot pool K0, K1 to K4 available throughout 2025.
A question to you, Martin, about the production volumes. We have a couple of questions on that. How should we think about production volume in 2026? While we're looking at 8,000 tons capacity, it seems some of the analysts are factoring in production of 5,000 tons. What are your plans going forward?
Yeah. It takes time to build up the biomass. When we are starting to release the smolt in the third quarter of 2025, we will not reach 100% capacity in 2026. Also because we need to have a long-term ramp-up plan. If we're releasing a lot of smolt now, it's also going to impact our long-term production plan. We can have high volumes in 2026, but then we need to have a reduction in the volumes in 2027 to 2028. The production volumes that is in the 5,000 tons production target, it's roughly also this is where we estimated to be in 2025. It's a combination of human grade and postsmolt.
Thank you. Question to you, Jostein. Will the planned pools north of the concrete factory have the same design as the phase 1 and phase 2 pools? That has not yet been decided.
I think that Andfjord would like to see how the production moves on for the first pools, then deciding what are the needs for pools in future build-out.
Yeah, I can elaborate on that and comment. It's important. We see, of course, a very strong improvement in the production plan if we also have some smaller units because we have very large units perfectly suited for the last phase of the production cycle. To have smaller units, we will also increase our productivity and flexibility. Also, the cost of building smaller pools is less complex and also has a lower investment. Definitely looking into having more and smaller units in the next phase. We will come back on these details after we have gained experience from the first phase.
Any questions from the audience? Yeah.
What would be the working capital requirements for the first phase of production?
Yeah, I think we need to get back to the exact figures for that. As Martin mentioned, it's fair to assume production of around 5,000 tons next year. As I also mentioned, we can expect an OpEx around NOK 50 in total per kilo. You can calculate the build-up of the biomass. I don't think I can go into exact details, a bit too early for that yet.
When will you start holding quarterly presentations up at Kvalnes at Andfjord?
Yeah. When we have fish in the pools.
Of course, everybody is welcome to visit at any time.
It's a very good idea to visit us actually before we are getting fish in the pool because to understand the dimension, you need to be down in the tunnel to be down in the pools. That's difficult after it's water there. It's quite impressing to see the longest tunnel in our region. It's actually at Andøya now. You're all welcome to visit.
We have one more question from the webcast. If the regulatory changes go ahead, I think it means by disinfection of seawater, how would this raise CapEx per kilo to be able to satisfy those disinfection requirements?
I think this is a hypothetical question. For us, the most important thing now is to focus on having the flexibility to adapt new and cleaning technology. Our license, the existing license that we have, and the authority is also clear that the new function will not impact existing license. If requirements come from the authority, we will come back on the details on the coming license expansion on the sites.
Any questions from the audience? We have one final question from the webcast. Are there any risks regarding the sale lease back of the harbor? I guess that's to you, Bjarne.
Yeah, it's an 80 years contract, as I mentioned. It's important for Andfjord to control the harbor, as I said. We need to have the operational control of the harbor. We don't have to own the harbor. In terms of risk, we don't see any change to that compared to owning the harbor. Through these agreements, we have secured the necessary control that we need for our operations.
No further questions from the audience. We can conclude.
Okay. Thank you very much for your attention.