The basis of the economic analysis was a facility producing 430 kg of 96% pure EPA per annum. The biomass and the crude extract required for the EPA were produced within the integrated facility. Producing 430 kg of EPA required a biomass production capacity of 26.2 tons (dry basis) per annum and this translated to 2620 kg of crude esterified extract. The integrated production facility was costed for a coastal “green field” site in the south of Spain. This provided ready access to sea water and the irradiance levels required to attain an average biomass productivity of ∼1.25 kg m−3 day−1 in continuous culture.
The processes for producing the biomass, the crude esterified extract, and the pure EPA from the extract, were evaluated separately to gain a detailed insight into the major contributors to the final price of producing the EPA. This approach allowed us to separately estimate the cost of the biomass paste, the crude esterified extract and the EPA purified from the crude extract. For the economic evaluation, the components of costs taken into account included the charges related to capital investment and all operating expenses. The investment capital was assumed to be 100% venture capital and, therefore, no debt charges were included. All prices were for the year 2001.