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Press Release17 February 2020Siemens AGSingapore
First Aquaculture 4.0 closed containment system for tropical fish launched in Singapore
Singapore Aquaculture Technologies (SAT), a pioneer in utilizing closed containment systems for tropical fish, launches today its commercial Smart Floating Fish Farm at a ceremony officiated by Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Mr Masagos Zulkifli.
The 3000 square meter offshore farm, located off Pasir Ris Coast, is the first known Aquaculture 4.0 floating closed containment fish farm using Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS). It creates a controlled environment through a multi-level water treatment process. In addition, the farm integrates a high degree of automation, self-regulated control cycles and artificial intelligence within a Farm Management Information System to achieve a productive and environmentally friendly operation.
SAT has been using closed containment systems since 2012. This means the water where fish are kept are separated from sea water, allowing the farm to have more control of environmental factors that may harm the fish, such as pathogens, algae blooms, oil spills and effects of climate change.
“We are setting new standards in the aquaculture industry with our Smart Floating Fish Farm,” said Dr Dirk Eichelberger, Co-Founder of Singapore Aquaculture Technologies. “In addition to state-of-the-art water-treatment systems and on-site solar energy generation, we have now also integrated connectivity, artificial intelligence and a data management solution that provides us with predictive analytics and helps us to monitor the quality and health of our fish. The end result – we can ensure a consistent supply of healthy fish, grown in a low-stress environment.”
Siemens, SAT’s technology partner, implemented an end-to-end digital solution which included IoT operating system MindSphere that provides a central repository and monitoring of critical sensor and process data across a secure network. As a result, the quality of the fish and potential savings for resources such as energy, oxygen and feed has already been improved with the knowledge derived from collected and visualized data.
“By integrating cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence, edge computing and blockchain, Siemens is helping SAT to continuously optimize their operations,” said Raimund Klein, Executive Vice President, Digital Industrial, Siemens ASEAN. “The use of innovative advanced predictive analytics such as machine learning and video analytics helps to predict potential biomass growth and prevent the outbreak of diseases, hence reducing fish mortality. With this, SAT and Siemens are paving the way for scalable, highly flexible and above all environmentally efficient aquaculture across the entire value chain.”
An additional benefit of high-technology farming is food safety and traceability. As the fish is cultivated in a controlled environment free from contamination, there is minimal use of antibiotics and chemicals. As consumers increasingly demand to know the source of their food and whether it is sustainable, this enables them to better understand the journey of food from farm to table. At the launch of the Smart Floating Fish Farm, SAT and Siemens signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for enhanced collaboration in commercializing and scaling Aquaculture 4.0 technologies in Singapore and Southeast Asia.
“The Smart Floating Fish Farm is a good example of a sustainable, scalable and innovative farming solution that can help increase yield and productivity, and boost Singapore’s local fish supply,” said Mr Lim Kok Thai, CEO of the Singapore Food Agency (SFA). “With our limited space and resources, we will need even more local farms to leverage technology to grow more with less, in a climate resilient and sustainable manner. This is crucial as we work towards our “30-by-30” vision to produce 30 per cent of Singapore’s nutritional needs by 2030.”
Developed with support from SFA’s Agriculture Productivity Fund, the Smart Floating Fish Farm, together with the existing floating steel-structure fish farm, can produce up to 350 metric tons of fish when it is operating at full capacity in 2021.
Siemens AG (Berlin and Munich) is a global technology powerhouse that has stood for engineering excellence, innovation,
quality, reliability and internationality for more than 170 years. The company is active around the globe, focusing on the areas of
electrification, automation and digitalization. One of the largest producers of energy-efficient, resource-saving technologies, Siemens is a
leading supplier of efficient power generation and power transmission solutions and a pioneer in infrastructure solutions as well as
automation, drive and software solutions for industry. With its publicly listed subsidiary Siemens Healthineers AG, the company is also a
leading provider of medical imaging equipment – such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging systems – and a leader in
laboratory diagnostics as well as clinical IT. In fiscal 2018, which ended on September 30, 2018, Siemens generated revenue of €83.0 billion
and net income of €6.1 billion. At the end of September 2018, the company had around 379,000 employees worldwide. Further information is
available on the Internet at
www.siemens.com.
Singapore Aquaculture Technologies (SAT) is part of Wintershine, a sustainable aquaculture, nutrition & health company. The company’s motto is “Teaming up with Nature“, following which natural processes are complemented with technology to create sustainable scalable solutions. In aquaculture SAT has been a pioneer for tank based closed containment systems on floating structures. It has also set up a digitized smart floating fish farm that incorporates a high degree of automation, self-regulated control cycles and AI elements next to a farm management information system. SAT operates flow-through systems as well as Recirculation Aquaculture Systems (RAS) and is setting up a floating hatchery for tropical food fish.