Marselisborg wastewater treatment plant
How a wastewater treatment plant is transformed into an energy producer
The wastewater treatment plant as an energy generator: This is what the future of water supply looks like! This is because it is one of the largest energy consumers within a municipality with the water treatment and purification sectors. In Europe, water and wastewater treatment accounts for 30-50% of municipal electricity consumption. The municipality of Aarhuus in Denmark shows how it can be done much better. By using optimized processes, modern frequency converters with maximum energy efficiency, and exploiting the latest technologies such as district heating and biogas, it has managed to ensure that the Marselisborg wastewater treatment plant today generates net energy.
Energy generation at the wastewater treatment plant in Marselisborg
Wastewater treatment plant as energy generator: Discover how frequency converters from Danfoss Drives drive all pumps, fans and other motors in the Marselisborg wastewater treatment plant and enable its transformation into an energy generator.
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Wastewater treatment plant as energy producer: What was the path from energy consumer to energy producer?
The wastewater treatment plant of tomorrow already exists today. It is located in Aarhus, Denmark and inspires water management worldwide. Claus Homann is responsible for wastewater management in the Danish municipality and is proud of his team. Together with Mads Warming from Danfoss, they have already achieved a lot. In Aarhus, managers have been saving energy and CO₂ for more than a decade.
With the Marselisborg plant, Aarhus has become the first city in the world to create a wastewater treatment plant that is completely self-sufficient in energy – and even generates a surplus. 120 VLT® AQUA Drive frequency converters from Danfoss drive all major motors for fans, blowers and pumps.
Energy generation from household wastewater
There are a few other plants in the world that operate similarly to Aarhus and have the same goal. "But it’s important to understand that unlike the others, our plant generates energy using only household wastewater – not additional waste from the food industry, for example, or from solar panels or wind turbines. That is the unique selling point of Aarhus," reports Claus Homann. At the Marselisborg water treatment plant, the focus shifted from minimizing energy consumption to maximizing net energy surplus since 2010. Today, the plant produces electricity and heat, and this net generation supplies the local utility grid of Aarhus, Denmark’s second largest municipality. The CO2-balance was reduced by 35% accordingly.
Read ‘Tech Insight’ to find out what technology you need to turn your wastewater treatment plant into an energy supplier.
Danfoss VLT® frequency converters for all areas of water treatment
Water and wastewater treatment has high load variations during the day and at different times of the year. The use of variable frequency drives has steadily increased to control and adapt blowers, pumps and other driven equipment to changing power requirements. In the Marselisborg wastewater treatment plant, VLT® AQUA Drive frequency converters are installed on almost all moving parts: they control blowers, pumps and mixers. Thanks to the frequency converters, the plant can respond to load fluctuations with maximum flexibility.
Torque - The Drive Podcast | Episode 9
Water and wastewater treatment has high load variations during the day and at different times of the year. The use of variable frequency drives has steadily increased to control and adapt blowers, pumps and other driven equipment to changing power requirements. In the Marselisborg wastewater treatment plant, frequency converters are installed on almost all moving parts: they control blowers, pumps and mixers. Thanks to the frequency converters, the plant can respond to load fluctuations with maximum flexibility.
In this episode of Drehmoment – Der Antriebspodcast, Claus Homann and Mads Warming explain how they converted the existing plant into a global prosumer role model. You can also read the interview here.
Good prospects: On the way to becoming a municipal prosumer
The vision of the city of Aarhus is to expand energy production even further and to achieve a surplus production from its wastewater treatment plants that is so high that it can also meet the energy needs for the city’s drinking water supply. This makes the agency’s single largest electricity consumer an energy neutral player.
Read ‘Tech Insight’ to find out what technology you need to turn your wastewater treatment plant into an energy supplier.
