EELTH: environmental and energy upgrade

Moving rapidly in the implementation of its investment planning, EYATH SA signed on December 7, 2020 a contract with the company AKTOR for the provision of services “Operation and Maintenance of the Wastewater Treatment Plant of Thessaloniki”, a project with a budget of 64.5 million euros.

Under the contract, AKTOR undertakes to implement, in addition to operation and maintenance services, significant interventions to modernize the facility and reduce its environmental and energy footprint.

In particular, the contract provides for maintenance, repair, hygienic monitoring and finally more efficient operation of the entire installation with additional interventions and, at the same time, work that will lead to its energy upgrade. The general interventions concern, in addition to the main installation, the installation of reception and pre-treatment of sewage, the treated sewage disposal pipeline, the power station, as well as the thermal drying unit of dehydrated sludge. Among other things, maintenance of the submarine pipeline, works in the industrial water network, configuration of the surrounding area in areas of the installation, as well as installation of power management system.

At the level of improving the energy efficiency of EELTH, it is expected to upgrade the sludge dehydration unit, operation of the cogeneration unit, biogas treatment as well as expansion of the anaerobic digestion. The produced biogas is expected to be consumed as a fuel, as an alternative to natural gas, in the drying unit, in the cogeneration unit and in the biogas burners (until today, about 70% of the produced biogas remained unfortunately unexploited).

In addition, a photovoltaic park with a capacity of 1 MW will be formed on the plot of EELTH, with an estimated annual production of 1,300 MWh and a corresponding reduction of the current energy consumption. After the end of the contract, the photovoltaic park will become the property of EYATH, significantly contributing to the reduction of the company’s energy footprint.

Among other things, the project will reduce the nuisance emissions during the operation of the units, will improve the quality of the dehydrated and dried sludge, will ensure the uninterrupted use of the treated sewage at the exit for the needs of irrigation in the crops of Chalastra and Kalochori, while it will improve significantly the safety and hygiene conditions of workers.

The duration of the project is 60 months (5 years) with an extention of 12 more months. The EELTH in Sindos treats daily 150,000 – 160,000 km of urban wastewater from the western and central areas of Thessaloniki. Its first operation began in February 1992, while its second phase, which ensured a wastewater treatment rate of over 90%, was completed in 2000.