Sea Farm Westdiep Ltd. is the organisation set up by Colruyt Group to build and operate “Sea Farm Westdiep”. The name Westdiep refers to the Westdiep zone in the North Sea, in which the Belgian government has demarcated a project zone that allows commercial aquaculture. DEME has a financial minority stake in Sea Farm Westdiep Ltd. Both Colruyt Group and DEME wish to continue investing in sustainable aquaculture at sea. Within Colruyt Group, business unit Smart Technics takes charge of the engineering and construction of the sea farm.
Colruyt Group wants to actively contribute to a more sustainable world. That is why we are now working on innovative solutions to meet the growing demand for balanced and sustainable protein sources. We strongly believe in the potential of the Belgian North Sea for the local cultivation of mussels, oysters and seaweed. Since 2015, we have been involved in aquaculture initiatives in Flanders. We expect the first harvest of mussels from Sea Farm Westdiep by 2023.
With this initiative we contribute to achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals:
– Life below water
– Decent work and economic growth
– Responsible consumption and production
Smart Technics is an innovative start-up within the Colruyt Group that lives by the motto: from inspiration to implementation. The team provides a broad spectrum of services, ranging from engineering, project management, design and implementation of technological solutions, both for the shop environment, logistics centres and production activities.
Within the production activities, Smart Technics leads various projects including those focused on vertical farming and marine aquaculture. It is under this last activity that Smart Technics takes on the project management and offshore operational management for Sea Farm Westdiep Ltd.
DEME is a worldwide solutions provider in the specialised fields of dredging, offshore energy, infrastructure and environment. By means of a financial minority interest in Westdiep, DEME wishes to expand its portfolio in order to develop multiple space usage at sea to a maximum extent.