Veolia Water Technologies Italy has been awarded a contract to engineer, supply, start up and commission the sludge line for the Genoa Area Centrale wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). The new facility will have the capacity to treat the wastewater from 250,000 population equivalent (PE) while the sludge line capacity will reach 500,000 PE.
The new plant will replace the existing Cornigliano WWTP as well as the Volpara sludge plant, which had reached maximum capacity without the possibility to expand. With a total treatment capacity of 45,000 kg of total suspended solids per day, the sludge line at the new Genoa Area Centrale WWTP will also treat sludge from the Sestri Ponente, Punta Vagno and Darsena treatment plants.
Sludge from the primary treatment is digested together with biological sludge from the membrane bioreactor of the new WWTP. It is then mixed with sludge from the other plants and hydrolyzed through Veolia’s proprietary Bio Thelys™ process prior to final digestion. This process increases the performance of the digestion stages and significantly improves the production of valuable biogas, which will be reused for cogeneration and to produce the steam needed for the thermal hydrolysis process. This design reduces the volume of sludge that is sent to final disposal, translating to significant savings in operation costs, while sanitizing it and rendering it safe for reuse in agricultural applications.
Olivier Jenoc, CEO of Veolia Water Technologies for southern Europe and Germany, declared: “The City of Genoa has been working for many years to consolidate, upgrade and improve its wastewater treatment installations. The sludge treatment solution we have put forth will reduce operating costs and improve the sustainability of the Genoa Area Centrale wastewater treatment plant. We are proud to be involved in this project, together with our partners.” The start-up of this new facility is scheduled for the first half of 2023. Veolia’s contract scope also includes a 12-month supervision service contract. The construction project was awarded by IREN, one of the largest and most dynamic multi-utility companies in Italy, to a company consortium led by Consorzio Integra.
