Anaergia to upgrade anaerobic digesters at Ontario WWTP

Anaergia Inc., based in Canada, has announced that it signed a design-build agreement with the town of Petawawa, Ontario. Under the terms of the agreement, Anaergia will upgrade the existing anaerobic digesters located at Petawawa’s Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP).

Anaergia will install its Omnivore system, upgrading the WPCP digesters to process biosolids from the wastewater treatment operations along with organics from the municipal solid waste stream. The digesters will then produce biogas that will be used to fuel a combined heat and power engine, reducing the plant’s dependence on fossil energy supplied by utilities, and reducing its operating costs.

“This is the first wastewater plant in Canada that will benefit from Anaergia’s unique suite of technologies for upgrading existing wastewater infrastructure into a facility that will produce renewable energy. The technologies used here have already been proven in the U.S., most recently at a facility belonging to the Victor Valley (California) Wastewater Reclamation Authority,” says Andrew Benedek, chair and CEO of Anaergia. “The Petawawa WPCP will serve as an important reference site for Canada. We expect to convert many more facilities in Canada and elsewhere as such conversions make economic and environmental sense. Furthermore, it makes wastewater plants resilient to power interruptions.”

The project is designed to achieve net-zero carbon emissions for the WPCP and to convert the existing facility into a resource recovery center for organic waste. In this way, it will contribute to creating a circular economy in the region while contributing to Ontario’s efforts to divert waste from landfills.

In addition to providing the digester technology and ancillary equipment, process integration and overall project execution, the contract also calls for Anaergia to provide technical services to the WPCP for a period of 10 years.