The new heat pump will extract excess heat from around 65 million litres of treated wastewater to heat around 20,000 homes.
Energy supplier Eneco and water regulator HDSR in the Netherlands have started operating the country’s largest heat pump, Interesting Engineering Eneco will use pumps to extract heat from HDSR’s treated wastewater and convert it into a new source of energy for the heating system, Eneco said on September 11.
The heat pump is installed at the Utrecht wastewater treatment plant. According to Eneco, around 20,000 households in the cities of Utrecht and Nieuwegein will have sustainable heating.
“The system treats wastewater from residents and businesses, a process that takes place day and night. We are delighted that the heat in the treated wastewater will now be useful and will heat around 20,000 homes. This new application significantly reduces the amount of fossil fuel consumed,” said Nanda van Zoelen, director at HDSR.
Every day, the heat pump extracts waste heat from around 65 million litres of treated wastewater. According to Eneco, this water comes from showers, kitchen taps, dishwashers and washing machines, and ranges in temperature from 12 degrees in winter to over 22 degrees in summer.
Thanks to the new heat pump, this heat will not be wasted but will be recycled for the heating system. A heat exchanger will take the heat from the wastewater, then the heat pump will raise the temperature to 75 degrees and send the water to the heating system. The system also has a heat storage tank about 18m high and 18m wide to ensure there is always enough heat.
The new heat pump is expected to save 30,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. “People use heat in their homes, and we then recycle that heat to provide heat and hot water for households. This is a great way to make our heat more sustainable and accelerate the energy transition,” said Karen de Lathouder, director at Eneco.