Bioenergy4Water Europe

Bioenergy4Water Europe is a proposed international demonstration-oriented RDI project for CETPartnership Joint Call 2026, CM2026-09 – Integrated Industrial Energy Systems.

The project aims to transform wastewater treatment plants into low-carbon industrial energy hubs by integrating bioenergy, CHP optimisation, renewable heat, wastewater heat recovery, heat pump systems, waste heat recovery and smart digital energy management.

Wastewater treatment plants are energy-intensive infrastructures with continuous electricity and heat demand from aeration, pumping, sludge treatment, digestion, drying and heating processes. At the same time, they generate valuable energy streams such as biogas, sludge-derived energy, wastewater heat and low-grade waste heat. These resources are often managed separately and are not fully optimised.

The main objective is to develop, demonstrate and validate an integrated low-carbon energy management model for wastewater treatment plants, progressing from TRL 5 at project start to TRL 6–7 by project end through validation in real operational environments.

The project will not focus on one single technology. Instead, it will combine existing and emerging technologies into a replicable system architecture, including biogas utilisation, CHP/cogeneration optimisation, renewable heat, solar thermal or hybrid thermal systems, heat pumps, heat exchangers, waste heat recovery, smart monitoring, forecasting and operational decision support.

The planned demonstration approach includes multiple wastewater treatment plant profiles in Europe and associated countries: large metropolitan plants with sludge treatment and CHP systems, medium-sized municipal plants with heat recovery potential, industrial-urban interface sites, and follower/replication sites. One possible demonstration site may be located in Türkiye, subject to institutional approval.

Expected results include baseline energy and carbon assessments, integrated energy system designs, CHP and biogas optimisation scenarios, renewable heat and heat recovery models, heat pump and heat exchanger performance assessment, a Smart Wastewater Energy Management System prototype, demonstration and validation results, LCA/TEA analysis, a replication toolkit and an investment roadmap.

Expected impacts include reduced fossil fuel consumption, improved energy efficiency, increased use of biogas and recovered heat, reduced CO₂ emissions, lower operational energy costs, improved circular use of sludge and biomass-derived energy streams, and stronger integration of wastewater infrastructure with the clean energy transition.

We are looking for partners to build an international consortium, including an experienced coordinator, wastewater utilities, industrial technology providers, heat pump and heat recovery companies, biogas/CHP optimisation experts, digital energy management partners, modelling and simulation experts, LCA/TEA and business model partners, municipalities, energy agencies and replication actors.

The project proposer can support concept development, partner mobilisation, municipal and wastewater utility engagement, pilot-site preparation, stakeholder coordination, dissemination and replication planning.