Finnish green chemicals company Origin by Ocean and the CABB Group, a leading contract development and manufacturing organization specializing in fine chemicals, have entered into a strategic partnership to establish a first-of-a-kind algae biorefinery at CABB's production site in Kokkola, Finland.

Origin by Ocean and CABB team in Kokkola, at CABB premises Kokkola Industrial Park.

Turning harmful algal to useful resource

Fueled by agricultural nutrient runoffs and rising ocean temperatures, harmful algal blooms have impacted coastal communities in the Caribbean and West Africa. Producing up to 40 million tons of biomass annually, these blooms have rendered beaches unusable and disrupted local economies, especially fishing, as marine ecosystems are thrown off balance.

The Government of Jamaica spends more than a million annually to clean up sargassum from Caribbean beaches. However, algal blooms are starting to affect marine communities all around the world, not just in the Caribbean.

First-of-a-kind algae biorefinery

The facility will use Origin by Ocean’s patented biorefinery technology and is set to begin operating in 2028, processing sargassum – an invasive brown seaweed – into high-value ingredients, such as alginate, fucoidan, and biomass residue.

Origin by Ocean will construct the biorefinery and CABB will operate it under a Manufacturing as Service (MaaS) arrangement.

“The advantage of our technology is that we can establish facilities anywhere around the world. Now, we are ready to scale and actively looking for partners to accelerate the widespread industrial adoption of new ingredients derived from brown algae,” said Mari Granström, Chief Executive Activist and Founder of Origin by Ocean.