Electricity generation and demand flexibility in wastewater treatment plants: Benefits for 100% renewable electricity grids

Ali, Syed Muhammad Hassan; Lenzen, Manfred; Sack, Fabian; Yousefzadeh, Moslem

doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.114960

Cited by 38 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…This assessment reported in supply of 33-55% of the total energy demand of the plant from renewable energy system at high investment cost. Ali et al (2020) demonstrated the energy generation potential and 100% renewable electricity utilization at WWTPs in Australia. Energy sources such as anaerobic digestion of sludge, biomass energy, solar energy (rooftop and centralised), wind and hydro were considered alongside the load-shifting of the WWTPs.…”

Section: Tools and Opportunities For Integrating Local Available Renewable Energy Sources (R3)mentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of energy optimization modelling tools for the decarbonisation of wastewater treatment plants

Nakkasunchi

Hewitt

Zoppi³

et al. 2021

Journal of Cleaner Production

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Wastewater treatment plants strongly contribute to the Greenhouse Gas emissions of the water industry and are responsible for the 3% of the global energy demand. This proportion of energy is expected to double in the coming decade. It is therefore important to correctly investigate the optimal use of energy in wastewater treatment facilities that can reduce their Greenhouse Gas emissions. A review was developed on modelling tools that can be used for the analysis of the water-energy nexus in wastewater facilities, from over 200 research articles collected from different scientific resources published in the last 15 years. The aim was to analyse the state of art of existing tools to provide an aid for researchers and professionals to identify the most suitable tool to investigate decarbonisation strategies for wastewater facilities. Studies were grouped on the basis of the main intervention analysed: i) reduction of energy demand, ii) energy production from wastewater and iii) integration of the available renewable sources on-site (e.g. PV, hydro). The work developed also provides an overview of the most applicable decarbonisation strategies and their potential to reduce the CO2 emissions of wastewater facilities. Results show that identifying the best tool strongly depends on the main aim of the intervention. Existing tools, in fact, can help to analyse separately either technologies to reduce the energy demand or the integration of the most common renewable sources from both wastewater (i.e. biogas and heat recover) and renewable sources exploitable on site. However, the full decarbonisation of wastewater facilities can only happen by integrating different energy savings and renewables solutions. There is, therefore, the need for a comprehensive energywater optimization tool able to understand how key water parameters influence the energy demand and to identify, on a single platform, the best energy saving solutions and the benefits coming from integrating different renewable sources. Such platform could help in enhancing the benefits of combined solutions, helping to maximise the reuse of the renewable energy produced onsite and any opportunity of energy savings.

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Section: Tools and Opportunities For Integrating Local Available Renewable Energy Sources (R3)mentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of energy optimization modelling tools for the decarbonisation of wastewater treatment plants

Nakkasunchi

Hewitt

Zoppi³

et al. 2021

Journal of Cleaner Production

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…If trends point to decentralized systems, these imply smaller plants, with their inherent characteristics and limitations to implement renewable energies technologies. The main appeal of hydropower is its flexibility, accessibility, and worldwide application [26,48,52,72,79], without interfering in the treatment process itself and without the strict limitation of scale that other technologies do present [14,25,38,92,93].…”

Section: Energy Self-sufficiency and Hydropower Contribution At Wwtps: Energy Profilesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second, by the implementation of renewable energy generation technologies [17,21,36], aiming for energy neutrality or self-sufficiency. Within the described framework, this would represent that 100% of the energy consumed at the plant is energy generated by its own from renewable sources [16,26,31,[37][38][39].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The most known technology is the generation of heat and power from biogas, but in more recent years, new options have arisen, such as sludge incineration, microbial fuel cells, microalgae systems, and others, all of them in ongoing research and further development [17,31,36,38,42].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Regarding real applications up to date, only the most mature technologies are usually applied. The combined generation of heat and power from the biogas obtained in anaerobic digestion is generally regarded as the main contributor to achieve energy self-sufficiency at WWTPs [21,25,38]. For example, in the UK, it was estimated that biogas represents about 90% of the energy generated from renewable sources in the water sector [52].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Energy Self-Sufficiency Aiming for Sustainable Wastewater Systems: Are All Options Being Explored?

2021

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In upcoming years, water demand is expected to boost worldwide, and with that, wastewater generation and the required energy for treatment. Provided that efficiency measures should be implemented at first instance, developments of renewable energy technologies are needed to improve sustainability at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Based on theoretical analyses of literature data, this article presents a novel perspective of the role that hydropower could play in that energy framework. This research applied a new approach compared to previous studies, considering the introduction of sustainability aspects in the decision-making process, other than economic feasibility. With that aim, a broad search of real case studies was conducted, and suitable Key Performance Indicators based on the energy self-sufficiency concept were selected and applied to the identified cases. The findings suggest that there is not a rule of thumb to determine feasibility for hydropower installation and this technology might deserve more attention. This new perspective can help to raise awareness among policy makers, decision managers, or plant operators, of the possibilities hydropower could offer to the wastewater industry in the pathway towards more sustainable systems.

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A review of 100% renewable energy scenarios on islands

Meschede

Bertheau

Khalili

et al. 2022

WIREs Energy & Environment

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Globally, more than 740 million people live on islands which are often seen as ideal environments for the development of renewable energy systems. Hereby, they play the role to demonstrate technical solutions as well as political transition pathways of energy systems to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The growing number of articles on 100% renewable energy systems on islands is analyzed with a focus on technical solutions for transition pathways. Since the first “100% renewable energy systems on islands”‐article in a scientific journal in 2004, 97 articles handling 100% renewable energy systems on small islands were published and are reviewed in this article. In addition, a review on 100% renewable energy systems on bigger island states is added. Results underline that solar PV as well as wind are the main technologies regarding 100% RES on islands. Not only for the use of biomass but for all RES area limitation on islands needs to be taken more seriously, based on full energy system studies and respective area demand. Furthermore, it is shown that there is still not the same common sense in the design approach including and starting at the energy needs as well as on multi‐sectoral approach. The consideration of maritime transport, aviation, cooling demands, and water systems beyond seawater desalination is only poorly considered in existing studies. Future research should also focus on developing pathways to transform the existing conventional infrastructure stepwise into a fully renewable system regarding also the interconnections with the mainland and neighboring islands. This article is categorized under: Policy and Economics > Green Economics and Financing Energy Systems Economics > Economics and Policy Energy Systems Analysis > Economics and Policy Energy Systems Analysis > Systems and Infrastructure

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Electricity generation and demand flexibility in wastewater treatment plants: Benefits for 100% renewable electricity grids

Cited by 38 publications

References 25 publications

A review of energy optimization modelling tools for the decarbonisation of wastewater treatment plants

A review of energy optimization modelling tools for the decarbonisation of wastewater treatment plants

Energy Self-Sufficiency Aiming for Sustainable Wastewater Systems: Are All Options Being Explored?

A review of 100% renewable energy scenarios on islands

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