The two equipments, which have 30% more power than the previous ones, will be operational in August
The WWTP already has the two new electric power engines that will mean a saving of 37.5% in consumption
Yesterday work began at the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) on the installation of two cogeneration engines for self-consumption of biogas and generation of electricity. The new engines will replace the existing ones at the WWTP, which are 15 years old and have already reached their useful life.
This morning Mayor Toni Pérez and the Councilor for the Water Cycle, José Ramón González de Zárate, visited the WWTP facilities to closely follow the work and see first-hand how the new infrastructure works.
The municipal technicians considered that in a very short period of time they would be out of service and this would cause the consumption of electrical energy to come from the general network. To avoid this, it was requested to equip the WWTP with these two state-of-the-art modules with an electrical power of 330 kilowatts each and generating 400 V, 50 Hz and an electrical output of 37.5%.
The biogas that is generated through the 'digestion' of the sludge from the treatment plant is the fuel used by this cogeneration equipment so that the electrical energy they generate is injected into the power supply of the WWTP treatment equipment for self-consumption. Taking into account the power of the installed equipment and the electrical consumption of the plant, at least half of its consumption is used through biogas.
This amount of biogas, however, varies depending on the time of year so that in the summer season the generation of electrical energy is much greater because the flow of water that is treated in the WWTP is also greater.
In the case of the existing engines until now in the WWTP, their power was 220 kilowatts, while those that are being installed reach up to 330 kilowatts, 30% more. They will be fully operational in August and their acquisition is financed by 25% by the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE).
“This new equipment allows us to operate with very significant savings in electrical energy, an aspect that is now essential due to the increase in the price of electricity by more than 50%. With these savings, we can allocate more economic resources to making improvements and investments instead of paying the electricity bill" explained the mayor.
Despite everything, Toni Pérez has urged the Public Entity for Wastewater Sanitation (EPSAR) to "contribute to the financing of these teams as they promised at the time". In this sense, the mayor recalled that EPSAR itself informed the municipalities that it would finance the part of the eligible cost that the IDAE did not subsidize to those local entities that availed themselves of the financing program for cogeneration equipment.
In the case of Benidorm, the investment is around 600,000 euros and the eligible cost, that is, the mere acquisition of the equipment, amounts to around 300,000 euros. “The IDAE finances 50% of those 300,000 euros, but the other 50% should be provided by EPSAR. We have told them so and we hope that they fulfil their commitment" said the mayor, who added that "since they do not allocate money to investments that correspond to them, at least include it in this financing, because they obtain an important benefit and They must contribute their grain of sand”.
