In the North Macedonian municipality of Kočani, WTE began building a cutting-edge wastewater treatment plant in accordance with the green energy concept in 2017.
After just two years on construction work, the modern plant was successfully put into operation and was handed over to the customer in 2020 after in-depth testing was concluded successfully. With its sustainable plant concept based on using solar and biogas energy, the wastewater treatment plant achieves an extremely high level of energy self-sufficiency, and thanks to its SBR (sequencing batch reactor) technology it has a small footprint.
65,000
PE (population equivalent)
7,150 m³
wastewater treated per day
55%
of power consumption covered by biogas and solar plant
The turnkey plant has a total capacity of 65,000 PE and is made up of mechanical pre-treatment, biological carbon and nitrogen elimination in the advanced SBR procedure, anaerobic sludge treatment with energy generated from biogas production and subsequent sludge composting.
By using SBR, we reduced the consumption of resources while the plant was still being built and achieved a high level of flexibility for the plant. The sewage sludge is stabilised anaerobically in a digestion tank, then dewatered and composted in a two-stage composting plant. Odours are prevented by using biofilters, with reduced operating costs. The final product can then be used in a wide range of applications in agriculture or road construction. The on-site composting substantially helps to minimise any negative environmental impact of transport and disposal – without any use of chemicals.
Find out more about the sustainability aspects of the project:
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WTE Sustainability Report 2022In its design and construction of the Kočani Wastewater Treatment Plant, WTE has successfully implemented a tailored green energy concept and presented it to the public effectively in close collaboration with the customer. The biogas generated in the sewage sludge stabilising process is used for electricity production. In addition, the WTE worked with its affiliated company EVN Makedonia to install a solar plant with a capacity of 453 kWp, in order to make use of the region’s sunny climate. In conjunction with the extremely energy-efficient electromechanical equipment and control of the plant, the biogas and solar plants cover roughly 55% of the treatment plant’s entire electricity consumption.
The tailored overall concept keeps operation costs consistently low and integrates the plant perfectly into the region’s waste management system.