Siemens to support power production at Austrian wastewater treatment plant

Siemens is supplying energy equipment to the chief sewage treatment facility at Simmering in the city of Vienna, Austria.

The company will deliver control, measuring, analytical and power distribution systems for the Ebswien main sewage plant, along with low-voltage and medium-voltage switchgear.

Part E_OS 2020 (Energy_Optimization Sludge Treatment) environmental project in the Austrian city, the order is worth €24m.

Under the terms of the order, Siemens will also be responsible for the installation and commissioning of the individual systems at the wastewater treatment plant, which intends to use sewage gas for all its treatment processes from 2020.

The treatment process at the facility will use reduced water content and double the solid content, which is expected to bring down energy consumption during anaerobic digestion and gas generation.

The facility is expected to produce around 78GWh of power and 82GWh of thermal energy following the upgrades. It will be able to cut down 40,000 metric tons of CO² emissions annually.

Ebswien main sewage plant director general Christian Gantner said: "Our conversion of the wastewater treatment plant into a green power plant makes a valuable contribution to both a responsible use of natural resources and to sustainable power generation."

Upgrades at the facility will involve migration and expansion of the existing Simatic PCS 7 process control system to the latest version 8.1 and implementation of Sitrans process instrumentation, devices for gas analysis (Ultramat/Oximat) and Scalance network components, Siemens said.

---

Image: Upgrades at the ebswien main sewage plant are being undertaken under Energy_Optimization Sludge Treatment project. Photo: courtesy of Siemens AG.