Abstract
Presentation at the 15th Nordic Seaweed Conference 7-8 October 2026 at Algecenter Denmark in Grenaa, Denmark: SFI Seaweed – Centre of gravity for industrial seaweed research and innovation
SFI Seaweed is a centre for research driven innovation uniting 21 partners from academia, industry and the public sector to develop knowledge and technology for a sustainable macroalgae industry.
The world needs biomass and kelp and other macroalgae can contribute with feedstocks for a long range of products and solutions that are crucial for the green transition of the world’s economy. Norway has excellent natural conditions for seaweed farming, and research and industry have already built strong expertise. Yet cultivated seaweed remains more expensive than many alternatives. To make it competitive, the entire value chain must advance together: cultivation technology, processing and market development.
In the centre we work across the whole value chain – from seedlings and farm design to harvesting, storage, processing and market – and study how seaweed farming interacts with marine ecosystems and the climate. A key focus is circular solutions: reusing aquaculture equipment, co cultivating macroalgae and salmon to utilise nutrients in sea and land systems, using industrial waste heat for drying, and improving biorefining to use the entire biomass.
Partners are already developing seaweed based products for food, feed, bioplastics, fertilisers and chemical ingredients, creating multiple opportunities for new value chains, and twelve PhD and postdoctoral researchers will contribute to the research and innovation. For 8 years with co-funding from the Norwegian Research Council SFI Seaweed will be Norway’s Centre of gravity for macroalgae research and innovation, contributing to a globally competitive and environmentally sustainable seaweed industry.