ABB Energy Management System Enables Reduced Costs and Emissions at Polish Wastewater Treatment Plant
The integration of digital technologies can significantly improve efficiency in the water and wastewater sector, among the most energy-intensive industries. This is being demonstrated at the Wrocław’s Janówek Wastewater Treatment Plant, where the implementation of ABB Ability™ OPTIMAX® energy management system is supporting operational efficiency, reducing operating costs and lowering emissions.
Estimates indicate that wastewater treatment and processing plants account for approximately three percent of electricity consumption in developed countries, and the average energy efficiency of wastewater treatment plants in Europe has significant potential for improvement. The need to minimise the carbon footprint of facilities and respond to the growing global demand for water is prompting water and wastewater utilities to look for new ways to increase the efficiency of their systems while minimising emissions. At Wrocław’s Janówek Wastewater Treatment Plant in Poland, the ABB Ability™ OPTIMAX® energy management system (EMS) has been implemented to help achieve these goals.
For more than 10 years, Miejskie Przedsiębiorstwo Wodociągów i Kanalizacji S.A. in Wrocław has taken actions aimed at improving energy efficiency and achieving climate neutrality. The Wrocław Wastewater Treatment Plant is MPWiK’s most energy-intensive facility – it receives wastewater from the entire city, from nearly one million residents. It is currently being expanded to adapt its capacity to the city’s growth and climate change, while at the same time reducing its carbon footprint. We are focusing on renewable energy, among other things, and we are also aiming to introduce energy resource flow management.
Jerzy Zarówny, Maintenance Department Manager at MPWiK Wrocław
ABB’s OPTIMAX EMS helps manage a wastewater treatment plant’s energy system and control activities related to the use of electricity, heat and fuels to produce power, so costs are optimised, and resources are used better.
The solution has a modular design, allowing modification and further expansion. Once the photovoltaic installation and energy storage are established at the treatment plant, the system will be expanded to include real-time control and optimisation, as well as interaction with the energy market. This will enable monitoring and cost forecasting, providing information on when it is worth storing the green energy produced and when it will be profitable to sell it back to the grid. OPTIMAX manages and controls all of this.
The OPTIMAX system is currently utilised in the water and wastewater sector. One implementation example is a facility in Schwarzenbruck in Germany. The results from this facility have led MPWiK Wrocław to initiate a similar project in Wrocław. “There is increasing interest among Polish wastewater treatment plants in the potential of advanced digital technologies for energy management. The use of these technologies is essential for the energy transition within the sector and, more broadly, in Poland,” said Marek Sulewski, Area Digital Sales Manager at ABB Energy Industries.
The OPTIMAX project at the Wrocław treatment plant is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2025.