Microalgae Aqualgae

Direct Environmental Impact (the project's): 

• Contribution to plastic consumption reduction: traditional microalgae production systems are made up of plastic bags, with an average useful life of one month, which go to waste after this period of use and are not 100% recyclable. In turn, the photobioreactors currently used are made up of components such as metal and thermoplastic polymers that can represent up to 70% of their total weight. Although they have a longer service life, the change to the new borosilicate glass material will allow 95% of plastic materials to be eliminated.
• Promotion of recycling: in addition to having much greater durability (on average 50 years compared to the average useful life of 15 years for polymers), glass is 100% recyclable and inert to nature.
• Productivity improvement: compared to traditional methods of producing microalgae in plastic bags, productivity improvements of at least 400% are expected. In relation to methacrylate photobioreactors, the increase in productivity can reach 15%.

Indirect environmental impact (the company's):

• CO2 absorption: microalgae are responsible for capturing CO2 - for every kg of biomass produced, at least 2 kg of CO2 are absorbed.

Aqualgae is a microalgae engineering and biotechnology company based in Coruña (Spain) with a manufacturing center in Viana do Castelo, in the North of Portugal. It was founded by Pedro Seixas, who is also its current owner and manager. Pedro has almost 20 years of experience working in the aquaculture industry.

At the beginning, the company was dedicated to the construction of photobioreactors for the optimized production of microalgae, which are the primary food of bivalves such as clams, oysters, scallops, clams, and of the larval stages of sea urchins, limpets and shrimp. 

With over 10 years of experience in the aquaculture and microalgae sector, Aqualgae's mission is to innovate and improve the efficiency of the aquaculture industry, particularly the microalgae production systems, in the implementation of automation solutions, increased competitiveness and productivity, greater energy efficiency and consequent improvement in environmental sustainability, and in other industrial sectors that employ microalgae.

Over the past 5 years, Aqualgae has also focused on the development of engineering products and services for other essential areas of aquaculture, such as the automation of processes and systems, installations of equipment and sensors (filtration, pumps, UV, sensors), and the development of monitoring and control platforms.

Now, in the current context of market instability and lack of raw materials and essential goods, it becomes necessary to produce locally from sea and land. The company's new containerized microalgae production systems (micro-factories), are produced by Aqualgae, and in other industrial sectors that employ microalgae. to obtain biofertilizers for agriculture, or to regenerate poorly productive soils. In turn, in a clear example of circular economy, wastewater from hydroponic agriculture or CO2 emitted in wine fermentation processes are the source of nutrients for microalgae. 

The manufacturing and assembly center of the modular systems will be in Viana do Castelo, Portugal.

Aqualgae is composed of a multidisciplinary team of highly qualified professionals in areas ranging from mechatronic engineering to industrial electrical installations, and including market specialists. The company also has a network of local suppliers essential for the development of the project, and proximity to several seaports for export of modular systems: Leixões, Viana do Castelo, Vigo, Marin, Corunha (all in Portugal and Spain).