Steve Morris, Managing Director at wastewater technology specialists HUBER Technology, explores the key role optimisation of treatment processes can play in reducing energy costs, cutting carbon emissions and delivery on the step up in efficiency Ofwat is expecting to see from the water companies.

Steve Morris: The rising costs of energy and raw materials are undoubtedly near or at the top of the agenda for companies at all points across the water sector supply chain and look set to stay there for some considerable time to come. Paradoxically, finding ways to tackle the issues, coupled with the need to meet carbon emission reduction targets could be key to delivering the operational and cost efficiencies Ofwat is looking to the water companies to deliver.

Ofwat’s paper Creating Tomorrow, Together setting out its draft methodology for the upcoming 2024 Price Review says the regulator is also considering setting targeted challenges to encourage a step change in performance on areas where there are long standing sector wide issues, including water efficiency and reducing harm caused by discharges from the wastewater network.

The paper says Ofwat is also challenging companies to identify the most impactful, best value solutions towards net zero and proposing to make additional funding available to the most efficient companies, to allow them to go further and faster, to reduce emissions.

It’s clear that those companies who are taking practical steps to look at their operational processes through the prism of reducing energy costs, energy use and cutting carbon emissions undoubtedly stand to benefit – both in terms of their own business activities and regulatory incentives.

From a supplier perspective, HUBER Technology is seeing a significant uptick in interest in the solutions we provide which really can help the water companies deliver the step change in efficiency Ofwat is expecting to see on an ongoing basis.

In my view, this is specifically related to our ability to provide verified data illustrating the measurable and quantifiable operational and cost benefits our technologies can offer them.

To take just a few examples:

• The HUBER Q-PRESS® sludge dewatering unit delivers significant cost, energy and carbon savings – offering up to an 80% reduction in power use compared to centrifuge technology
• CarbonWin® Solution which is helping our customers to maximise energy output from their operational processes and reduce their operational carbon emissions
• The HUBER Drum Screen LIQUID (DSL) – part of the CarbonWin® Solution. The DSL’s energy efficient fine screen technology can achieve around 30% reduction in aeration energy costs compared to using a conventional primary clarifier, due to improved biological separation with the DSL.
• Energy efficient motors and variable speed drives - inherent energy-efficient technologies are built into HUBER equipment and are an integral part of our operational/ equipment optimisation offering.
• Smart servicing capability - using our advanced telemetry to monitor what HUBER equipment is doing in real time enables our water sector customers to build in efficiencies and optimise operations to save energy.

HUBER CarbonWin® Process - YouTube

Renewable energy generation - tapping into seldom used wastewater energy source

At a more strategic level, the other key area where the water companies can really raise their game in cutting their own energy costs and associated carbon emissions to achieve their net zero ambitions is strengthening their in-house renewable energy generation capability.

We are now seeing a growing level of interest in our proven HUBER ThermWin® technology which offers the water companies and the customers they serve an unrivalled opportunity to tap in to a hidden and seldom used source of energy: municipal or industrial wastewater with a typical temperature of 15°C - 20° C all year round.

HUBER Wastewater Heat Exchanger RoWin - YouTube

We have just appointed Noventa Energy as our exclusive distributor in Scotland for the HUBER ThermWin®. Noventa is already working with the HUBER group in North America and incorporating our technology into their Wastewater Energy Transfer™ systems.

Noventa Energy is now working with Scottish Water Horizons to develop its Wastewater Energy Transfer™ systems at select sites across the country.

Phase 1 of Noventa’s WET™ system at Toronto Western Hospital, currently under construction, will access the wastewater flowing in the Mid Toronto Interceptor sewer to provide over 19MW of low-carbon thermal energy and reduce GHG emissions by 8,400 tCO2e annually – making it the largest raw wastewater energy system in the world.

Over the next 30 years, Noventa’s WET System is expected to:

• supply 1.8 billion kilowatt-hours of energy to the hospital, or approximately 90% of the hospital’s space heating and cooling requirements.
• reduce the hospital’s carbon dioxide emissions by 250,000 tonnes – the equivalent of taking over 1,800 cars off the road yearly.
• save over 141 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, 130 million cubic meters of natural gas, and 1.3 billion litres of cooling water

These are impressive figures, which can be replicated on projects in the UK.

Supply chain has solutions to deliver on energy efficiencies, reduced costs and associated carbon reductions

To sum up, energy prices look set to remain high for the foreseeable future – some commentators have even suggested they are unlikely to fall significantly much before 2030. The need to reduce energy costs, cut energy use and carbon emissions looks set to be a central feature of the water companies’ business agenda as they move towards the Price Review in 2024.

Water companies will need to submit stretching business plans to deliver on Ofwat’s requirement for a step change in efficiencies. At the same time, the regulator likewise does not expect their customers to pay for these.

The water companies’ investors are also exerting pressure and taking a much keener interest on how their infrastructure investments are being managed. Investors are increasingly likely to ask how their challenges are being addressed and whether there are solutions that could be used, whether they are being implemented - and if not, why not?

The reality is that there is no single silver bullet – no massive single measure that will of itself deliver the energy efficiencies and carbon reductions needed to achieve their net zero ambitions.

On the plus side, the water companies have the opportunity to do these things now rather than at some point in the future simply by exploring options which are already available and can be immediately implemented. These very quickly add up and a combination of measures at individual site level or individual equipment level can make all the difference.

Banging the drum for the water sector supply chain, we’re all focussed on how we can best help our customers and we’re confident that we can provide solutions to meet the long-term major energy and carbon challenges they are facing heading towards the upcoming Price Review.

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