Warsaw considers recovering heat from the sewage system

A crucial step in the process has been taken earlier this week

Warsaw might soon start recovering heat from the technological processes accompanying wastewater treatment, as the city website informs. Said heat can then be used in the distribution network managed by the energy operator and for the needs of the water supply company.

This is possible as MPWiK - Water supply and sewerage company of Warsaw and Veolia Energia Warszawa, manager of the largest heating network in the European Union supplying over 80% of buildings in the Polish capital (based on company reports), signed a letter of intent on the matter on Thursday.

Local solutions to a continental energy crisis

In the context of the energy crisis engulfing Europe, authorities are looking everywhere for opportunities to diversify the energy supply and ensure a warm winter. In this search, even waste might be an option, as it turns out.

As of yesterday, MPWiK and Veolia will study the possibilities of heat recovery in two wastewater treatment plants - Czajka and Południe - as well as in sewage collectors and other installations operated by MPWiK. The objective is to start using the heat for the city's needs, i.e. supplying it to district heating of Warsaw to residential and industrial buildings.

The cooperation will begin with the assessment of the potential of these sources and the technical possibilities of their exploitation, the release further informs. If the successful forecasts are confirmed, they may result in the conclusion of contracts for the design of heat recovery installations from the two wastewater treatment plants and sewage collectors, and the construction of a modern system for their successful use.

The project fits well into Warsaw’s ambitious goals, set out in the #Warszawa2030  strategy relating to the emission of pollutants and greenhouse gases. It thus falls within the concept of the circular economy and the idea of reducing the consumption of fossil fuels for the benefit of renewable energy sources.

Veolia Group has already successfully implemented such a solution in the village of Szlachęcin (near Poznan) and hopes that the current cooperation could have positive economic, environmental and social effects for the Polish capital as well.