First Water and construction contractor Ístak have signed an agreement for extensive construction work at First Water’s site in Þorlákshöfn. The project will complete the first phase of the company’s land-based salmon farming facility and double its annual production capacity from 5,000 to 10,000 tonnes of gutted salmon.
The project involves the construction of a tank and control building housing eight fish farming tanks, each with a capacity of approximately 5,500 cubic metres, together with associated technical equipment. Ístak will be responsible for the concrete works, structural steel erection and installation of the building’s exterior cladding.
Construction is scheduled to begin shortly and is expected to take 16–18 months, with completion anticipated in the first quarter of 2028.
“The agreement with Ístak marks a major and important milestone in the development of First Water. This project will complete the first phase of our development and double our current production capacity. We are delighted to partner with a strong Icelandic construction company with extensive experience in delivering complex projects,” says Einar Örn Ólafsson, CEO of First Water.
“First Water’s development is an ambitious and technically demanding project that is well aligned with Ístak experience and expertise,” says Karl Andreassen, CEO of Ístak. “We are proud to be involved in this important phase and look forward to working closely with First Water on the project.”
This is the first of six planned phases in the development of First Water’s land-based salmon farming facility in Þorlákshöfn. The company’s long-term goal is to produce up to 60,000 HOG tonnes of salmon annually once the development has been fully completed.
First Water completed the construction of eight 25-meter covered land-based aquaculture tanks last year and harvested, for the first time, 5 kg gutted premium-quality salmon in September 2025. Regular harvesting began in January 2026, with 95% of the salmon graded as superior quality. First Water’s products are sold to customers in Europe and the United States.