INEGI takes good energy efficiency practices to WWTPs in the North region and Galicia

Galicia and the North of Portugal join forces once again to launch the second part of the AQUALITRANS project, whose mission is to improve the energy efficiency of WWTPs (Wastewater Treatment Stations).

The results of the first part of the initiative were very positive – in the intervened WWTPs, there were energy savings of around 20 to 25%, with a potential cost reduction of up to 3.5 million euros, and up to less 12,500 tons of greenhouse gases greenhouse per year. This is why the consortium wants to expand the project and encourage the replication of these good practices.

To make this a reality, the consortium is working on expanding the AQUALITRANS IT tool. Currently, this tool allows operators to evaluate and compare their energy consumption with similar WWTP, and also to identify beneficial measures according to the environmental, energy, economic and technological criteria of the installations.

But soon, new capabilities will be introduced: sizing of self-consumption solutions, namely photovoltaic, and projections of digitalization solutions and intelligent management systems, are among the functionalities under development.

Ana Magalhães, responsible for the project at INEGI, explains that "since 2020, the energy landscape has changed a lot and it is essential to boost the consumption of renewables and self-consumption, and digitize these infrastructures to achieve intelligent consumption logic".

Águas do Porto, in Portugal, will be the stage for a pilot project within the scope of photovoltaic self-consumption solutions, under the guidance of INEGI. On the Spanish side, Augas de Galicia will host the pilot, with ITG - Instituto Tecnológico de Galicia.

It is an initiative in which Augas de Galicia, the Instituto Galego de Energia (Inega), the Instituto Tecnológico da Galicia Foundation, Águas do Porto Municipality also collaborate.