Increasing the Energy Efficiency of Sewage Plants – Experiences of Energy Analysis carried out in Germany

peer reviewedThe power consumption of municipal and industrial sewage plants has increased over the last decade because of enhanced requirements on nutrient removal. In addition, the cost for external power provision has significantly increased in the last years. The portion of the energy cost today is about 5 to 10 % of the annual cost of wastewater treatment. However, compared with the operational cost of wastewater treatment a much higher portion must be related to power consumption. With the tool of an energy analysis the energy consumption related to wastewater treatment can be efficiently optimized. Energy analyses carried out by the authors on sewage plants in Germany show that an increased energy efficiency of sewage treatment can be achieved