Transforming Wastewater into Sustainable Heat
Reference ENECO
At a glance
Innomotics enabled ENECO’s climate-neutrality efforts by providing advanced motors and drives for the largest heat pump system in the Netherlands that saves 30k tons of CO₂ annually and supplies 20k households with sustainable district heat.
- Supporting ENECO’s step-by-step journey to climate neutrality
- Efficiently using wastewater thermal energy for sustainable heating
- Integrating high-voltage components in limited space
- Minimizing grid impact while ensuring reliability and efficiency
- Installed four 27 MW heat pumps powered by compact 1 MW high-voltage motors
- Used advanced frequency drives to save space and enhance reliability
- Generated heat efficiently by extracting energy from 65 million liters of treated wastewater combined with electricity
- 30k tons of CO₂ emissions saved annually
- 20k households supplied with district heat
- 15% of the heat demand in Utrecht district contributed
- 27 MW of generated sustainable heat
Towards Climate Neutrality
The project is located at the municipal wastewater treatment plant in Utrecht, home to the largest heat pump system in the Netherlands, supplied by Johnson Controls. In collaboration with the local Water Authority, the Dutch energy company ENECO aims to unlock the potential of wastewater thermal energy for sustainable urban heating.
As part of ENECO’s goal to be climate-neutral by 2035, the challenge is to convert wastewater heat into reliable energy. This must be achieved while addressing space limitations, ensuring grid compatibility, and minimizing environmental impact. Processing 65 million liters of treated wastewater daily, the site is ideal for a large-scale sustainable energy initiative.
Our ambition as ENECO is to make the full energy supply climate neutral by 2035.
Sander Tensen, Manager Engineering, ENECO
The Solution: Reusing treated wastewater
By transforming wastewater into a sustainable heat source, the project addresses both environmental and energy challenges, reducing reliance on fossil fuels while contributing to global carbon reduction goals.
The solution involves the installation of four high-capacity heat pumps from Johnson Controls, each powered by Innomotics’ 1 MW motors and advanced frequency drives. These components were chosen for their compact design and high efficiency, allowing for easy integration into the limited space at the treatment plant. The heat pumps extract thermal energy from the wastewater, while the frequency drives optimize performance and reduce grid impact. This innovative system ensures reliable energy conversion while minimizing environmental footprint, supporting ENECO’s climate-neutral ambitions.
Innomotics' Solutions in Action
Innomotics provided the core technology that powers the heat pump system. Its state-of-the-art motors and frequency drives ensure optimal performance, reliability, and sustainability.
Thereby we have cleaner power that's coming in and out, basically back to the grid. The impact from us to the grid is less. That's why we chose the frequency drives from Innomotics, which are directly linked to the motors.
Sander Tensen, Manager Engineering, ENECO
Next to the standard use of motors and VFDs, we have proven with this project that our products can also be used to save CO2 for a more sustainable world.
André Hillebrink, Technical Sales Support Professional at Innomotics
