Factsheet 10/10: Energy storage systems at wastewater treatment works
This fact sheet is part of of a series of ten factsheets highlighting the renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE) technologies relevant to wastewater treatment works (WWTWs).
Wastewater treatment works (WWTWs) are large consumers of energy, with water supply and wastewater treatment constituting approximately 17% of the total energy consumed by South African municipalities. Innovative approaches to efficient energy use in municipal WWTWs, specifically through increased EE and greater adoption of RE technologies such as biogas, solar, wind power, thermal power and hydropower, can reduce spend on energy bills and enable sustainable delivery of water services. The adoption of EE and RE technologies supports climate change mitigation as it decreases the amount of electricity consumed and the associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while improving resilience to disruptions such as planned power outages (loadshedding).
