Benidorm carries out improvements at Rincón de Loix Wastewater Pumping Station

Benidorm City Council has begun work to replace one of the generator sets located at Wastewater Pumping Station (EBAR) number 1 in Rincón de Loix, at the end of Avenida del Mediterráneo. The generator being removed, a 500 KVA unit, was installed in 1986 and will be replaced with a 1,110 KVA unit. This is one of the projects included in Improvement Number 11, "Investments in industrial and operational safety for wastewater treatment and purification in Benidorm," with a total cost of €1,256,991.06, carried out by the company Aquambiente. In this particular case, the cost of replacing the generator set exceeds €450,000.

These works will last two weeks approximately, according to the Councillor for the Water Cycle, José Ramón González de Zárate, who specified that the work schedule indicates that the project will be completed before the end of April.

The pumping station required remodelling and automation because the current two generator sets do not allow for optimal parallel operation, hindering efficient and safe backup power management. In addition, the equipment, which has a capacity of 500 kVA, is obsolete, so the new generator will double the power output. The kVA (kilovolt-amperes) unit represents apparent power, which is the total capacity or maximum electrical energy load that the equipment can supply, including both useful and reactive power.

To allow both generator sets to operate in parallel, a bypass switch and controllers capable of managing synchronisation and parallel operation will be installed. “This design will improve operational safety and ensure that, in the event of a network failure, both pumping units can continue operating in parallel to meet energy demand,” explained González de Zárate. The councillor described the project as “one of the most important at the wastewater treatment plant” and noted that it falls under Improvement 11, “whose investment amounts to more than €1.2 million,” part of the €14 million being invested in the wastewater treatment network.

“With this intervention, we will achieve significant energy savings and ensure that pumping never stops,” said González de Zárate. In this regard, it is important to highlight that approximately 80% of Benidorm's wastewater passes through this pumping station. The councillor added that the investment will help reduce noise levels in the area emanating from the facility itself.

The councillor for the Water Cycle, who reiterated that the project is “fundamental, a priority, and necessary,” emphasised that these underground works “must be carried out before beginning the comprehensive renovation of Avenida del Mediterráneo.” “That’s called planning,” he added, alluding to the criticism levelled in recent days by the Socialist group regarding the alleged delay in the comprehensive renovation of the avenue. “We cannot begin surface work until the entire subsurface is prepared,” he stressed. Finally, González de Zárate clarified that “these dates were chosen to undertake the work because the flow of wastewater is currently decreasing.”