Danish biotech startup Algiecel has opened an industrial-scale plant inside Novonesis's site at Kalundborg, one of the world's largest enzyme factories, to make microalgae-based alternatives to fish oil for pet food and cosmetics, Green Queen reports.
Founded by Henrik Busch-Larsen in 2021, Algiecel grows microalgae in compact, modular photobioreactors lit by artificial light and fed with captured carbon dioxide. At Kalundborg the CO2 comes from a working biogas plant on the site rather than from bottled gas, which the company says shows its process works with real industrial inputs. Its products include whole-cell biomass, algae oil and protein fractions that can replace fish oil and fish meal.
The new bioreactor has a total volume of 5,500 litres, 3,240 of them used to grow algae, against 700 litres in the pilot system, raising capacity nearly fivefold. Because the design grows by adding identical units, Algiecel says it has a repeatable path to more capacity. The firm raised 60 million kroner ($9 million) in 2024 and expects to produce 12 tonnes of microalgal biomass a year from next year.
"We've run our pilot reactor for more than 10,000 operational hours, and the biology performs as we designed it to," said chief executive Susanne Palsten Buchardt. "At a moment when fish oil supply is under real pressure, this facility is where we prove we can deliver a reliable alternative."
Green Queen reports that fish oil supply in the main producing regions was about 31 percent below a year earlier by early June, and puts the global omega-3 market at $3.3 billion, set to reach $5.4 billion by 2033.
Source: Green Queen
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