Following a partnership that began in 2023, a dedicated automation solution based on ABB’s Ability™ System 800xA® is now fully approved and integrated with Royal HaskoningDHV’s Nereda® wastewater treatment technology. The collaboration means ABB’s technology can enable wastewater operators to improve efficiency, performance and asset utilization.
As the global population continues to increase, converting wastewater through treatment for reuse is crucial to balance growing demand with scarcity of water. According to UNICEF, four billion people - almost two thirds of the world’s population - experience severe water scarcity for at least one month each year. While 50 percent of the population could be living in areas facing water scarcity by as early as 20251.
Technology has a key role to play in making wastewater treatment more efficient and more sustainable. Royal HaskoningDHV’s Nereda Technology purifies water using aerobic granular sludge (AGS). The AGS granules provide a host for more intense treatment of the wastewater at a much faster pace than conventional activated sludge. This enables the process to meet strict compliance mandates while consuming up to 50 percent less electricity2.
ABB is adding enhancements to the Nereda technology, to produce strong savings in engineering effort of approximately 60 percent reduction by compressing project deployment time schedules. And by utilizing ABB’s Ability System 800xA Extended Automation (xA) concept, Nereda customers can gain more detailed information to better control processes and plant integration.
The xA offering utilizes the industrial IT architecture and extends the reach of traditional automation systems to increase energy efficiency, asset utilization, energy savings and operator effectiveness. As an integration platform it provides connectivity to plant systems, applications and devices while providing a collaborative environment where real-time decision making is a reality.
Wastewater treatment is a traditionally energy-intensive process that has resulted in the sector consuming up to three percent of the world’s total energy output. While more than 50 percent of a standard treatment plant’s energy consumption occurs during the process of aerobic activated sludge treatment by aeration3.
“Treating wastewater contributes to over 1.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, so optimizing the process is really important as part of the energy transition,” said Giuseppe Fraddanno, Regional Sales Manager Central and Southern Europe at ABB Energy Industries. “Integrating ABB’s and Royal HaskoningDHV’s Nereda technology enables us to develop sustainable solutions that reduce energy use whilst improving water quality and operational efficiency.”
“With a growing population, the demand for water is increasing fast. And this increased demand for water drives wastewater treatment to achieve increased performance and efficiency. Every wastewater treatment plant needs to find new ways to enhance processes and achieve more with fewer resources,” said João Tiago de Almeida, Global Director for Water Technology Products at Royal HaskoningDHV. “Our customers need the best technologies and to be able to operate with confidence, so the integration of ABB’s complementary products allows us to deliver leading solutions to solve their challenges.”
ABB’s Energy Transition Equation report found that harnessing digitalization and automation technologies to optimize wastewater treatment sites could reduce carbon emissions by up to 2,000 tons per annum4. With over 50,000 wastewater plants worldwide, there is an opportunity to save 100 million tons of CO2 per year and reduce water companies’ annual operational costs by up to $1.2 million.
1 https://www.unicef.org/wash/water-scarcity
2 https://nereda.royalhaskoningdhv.com/en/technology/advantages/sustainable
3 https://iwa-network.org/learn/circular-economy-tapping-the-power-of-wastewater/
4 https://new.abb.com/process-automation/energy-industries/energy-transition/wastewater
