In July 2020, WTE and HUBER were awarded the contract for the process engineering of the plant.

The citizens’ decision 2019 was the go-ahead for the sewage sludge mono-incineration project in Straubing. On 9 July, the contract for the process engineering of the plant was awarded to the Berching-based company sludge2energy GmbH, in consortium with HUBER SE and WTE Wassertechnik GmbH. The sewage sludge mono-incineration plant is designed for 120,000 tons of sewage sludge per year. It is of a self-sufficient design and – in the spirit of the Straubingers – is equipped with a highly efficient exhaust gas cleaning system, which now already conforms to the new possible limit values. From the sewage sludge, used as biomass, environmentally friendly electrical and thermal energy is generated in surplus.

For ‘Biomasseverwertung Straubing GmbH (BSR)’, the owner and operator of the future mono-incineration plant for sewage sludge, the signing of the contract is a milestone in a mammoth project.
“We started planning as early as 2017, today the groundbreaking signature is taking place and in a good three years the plant will be commissioned,” says Johannes Schneider, Managing Director of BSR GmbH, reflecting on the course of the project.

Behind the joint venture sludge2energy GmbH are the environmental companies HUBER SE and WTE Wassertechnik GmbH. Thanks to convincing references and a harmonious cooperation with the city of Straubing in the past, the company located in the Erasbach Industrial Park was able to secure the tender. Managing director Harald Plank, HUBER SE board member Georg Huber and WTE managing director Werner Casagrande contributed their part to the ceremonial signing of the contract. “For years sewage sludge has been the subject of much discussion and little implementation,” says Plank, describing the situation in Germany.

Exemplary for this are up to 400 kilometres long transport routes for the sewage sludge in Bavaria. These distances will be significantly reduced in future thanks to the large capacity of the Straubing plant. Plank is proud of the progressive thinking and acting of the city of Straubing and is pleased that the citizens can also benefit from this project thanks to the energy surplus. Looking ahead into the future Plank suggested that the subject of the Bavarian phosphorus strategy should be tackled jointly, a task that has also been intensively explored for several years.

Looking ahead to commissioning

The staff of slugde2energy GmbH will complete the plant design as scheduled by March next year. A permit from the city – according to the specifications of the citizens’ decision – is expected by the end of 2021. The commissioning of the plant will take place in 2024.