Partnerships for innovation
Seeking to introduce new generation sources in the Brazilian electricity matrix, GE Power and CS Bioenergia (a joint venture formed from the partnership between Cattalini Bioenergia and the sanitation company Sanepar) signed a contract for the energy generation project from the decomposition of sludge and organic matter deposited in a sewage treatment plant.
Located in Paraná, the generating plant will be equipped with two engines supplied by GE. Together, the equipment will produce 5,8 megawatts (MW) of energy.
Clean energy from sewage
The machines supplied will use biogas from the biodigestion of sludge and organic matter deposited at CS Bioenergia to generate clean and sustainable energy.
Jenbacher engines will produce 3.0 MW of thermal energy and 2.8 MW of electricity. Of the total electricity produced, 0.5 MW will be consumed by the biogas plant itself to maintain its operation and others 2.3 MW will be made available to the distribution network.
"The total energy generated is enough to supply about 8.400 people or 2.100 consumer units around the treatment unit", explica Rickard Schäfer, sales leader of GE Power's Distributed Power division for Brazil.
The installed engines make up GE's Ecomagination solutions platform, which focuses on developing innovations that improve operational performance while reducing its environmental impact.
"Generating energy from sewage and organic waste treatment is a smart and sustainable way to recycle what is produced by human activity. If we don't follow this path, we will be 'burying energy' in landfills and wasting a clean generation source, renewable energy and with enormous potential to help diversify the Brazilian electricity matrix", comments Luciano Fedalto, Technical director of CS Bioenergia.
Understand CS Bioenergia's operation at the Belém Treatment Plant
currently, ETE Belém treats 840 liters of sewage per second collected from underground pipes installed in the city of Curitiba. Part of the water resulting from the treatment is returned to nature, the remainder is reused by the biogas plant itself in processes that require treated water, but without potability requirement.
From the adaptation of the unit for power generation, the sludge from sewage treatment will be directed to a storage tank, where it will join other organic materials collected in restaurants, shopping centers, supermarkets and supply center (supper).
Together, the materials will be sent to four anaerobic digesters, responsible for processing organic matter and transforming part of it into biogas.
The biogas produced in the biodigesters will then be directed to the engines, who will have daily ability to transform 20.000 m³ of fuel in energy.
The rest of the matter will be transformed into biofertilizers used in agricultural production, closing the production cycle of ETE Belém and ensuring a sustainable operation in line with new concerns about the disposal of organic materials and preservation of the environment.
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