- Large-scale sludge processor in port of Ghent
From 2027, a new, state-of-the-art plant of water treatment company Aquafin at ArcelorMittal Belgium’s site in the port of Ghent will recover energy from the wastewater of 4 million inhabitants for reuse on site. Aquafin entrusted the design, build, financing, operation and maintenance of the plant to the BESIX-Indaver consortium. FOSTER, the ‘Special Purpose Vehicle’ (SPV) set up by Indaver and BESIX for this purpose, has now fully completed its finance package and has started construction, which will take just over two years.
Aquafin treats the domestic wastewater of 86% of residents in Flanders in 328 sewage treatment plants. In the biological purification process, microorganisms do the purification work, enabling continuous growth. The biomass created which then needs to be processed contains great potential for energy and raw materials. Aquafin has long been producing green energy and biomethane from the biogas derived from biomass fermentation. With its ‘road to zero carbon’ plan, the company aims to move further towards climate neutrality for its own business processes. With a negative global warming impact of 28,000 tonnes CO2-eq, the sludge mono-processor will make a significant contribution to that target. Moreover, in a mono-processor, sludge is not processed together with other substances, thereby allowing maximum recovery of energy and raw materials.
From design to operation
This DBFMO (design-build-finance-maintenance-operation) contract was awarded to FOSTER, which is responsible for operation until 2046. With the financial close of this project with an investment cost of around 200 million euros, FOSTER was able to fully complete the financing process and start engineering works. “We are honoured to play such an important role in this project as a long-term industrial equity partner,” said Pierre Sironval, BESIX Group CEO. “BESIX can bring decades of experience in public-private partnerships for infrastructure and environmental projects from design to implementation and operation. With this assignment, we show how we can provide our customers with sustainable solutions to help them achieve their climate goals. We are convinced that with our expertise we can guarantee efficient operation of the plant and thus contribute to sustainable development in Ghent for the next 20 years.”
Paul De Bruycker, CEO of Indaver: “This sludge processing plant offers a unique opportunity to further strengthen our commitment to the circular economy. Over the years, we have gathered extensive expertise in building and operating thermal processing plants and setting up steam and heat networks. We will apply this expertise to the FOSTER plant in Ghent. By working with our partners Aquafin and BESIX to process the sludge of 4 million inhabitants, we can not only recover energy, but in the long run also enable the recovery of valuable raw materials like phosphorus. This fits perfectly with our mission to create maximum value for waste and close cycles in a high quality way.”
Site selection as a function of CO2-impact
For the location of the new sludge mono-processor, Aquafin chose the site of steel producer ArcelorMittal Belgium in the port of Ghent. “We based this on a model in which we could see for each possible location what the CO2 impact of all sludge transports in Flanders would be. Of course, we want our sludge to have to be driven as few kilometres as possible to its final destination,” Jan Goossens, CEO of Aquafin, explains this choice. “In addition, the value potential of the energy produced was also important, with a view to optimisation for Flanders. Ghent port’s ambition to become carbon-neutral by 2050 was an additional convincing factor.”
FINARMIT, 100% subsidiary of public renewable energy investor FINEG, will finance the expansion turbine that will accept and expand the steam. Filip Keppens, director FINEG: “FINEG’s mission is to actively contribute to the sustainability of Flemish industry by funding environmentally friendly energy solutions that generate both economic and environmental value. We are supporting ArcelorMittal Belgium in making its Ghent corporate site more sustainable through the SPV FINARMIT. The electricity that the expansion turbine will produce will be supplied to the sludge mono-processor and the expanded steam will be injected into ArcelorMittal’s steam network. With the finance package, we are contributing to a significant CO2 reduction for the steel producer.”
ArcelorMittal Belgium gives Aquafin a building right on the site and takes the entire steam production of the sludge treatment as an additional feed for the internal steam network. In this way, the plant also contributes to the steel producer’s sustainability strategy. Manfred Van Vlierberghe, CEO ArcelorMittal Belgium: “For us, it represents another step in our sustainability strategy towards carbon neutrality by 2050. Using steam in our steelmaking process further reduces the use of fossil fuels. This makes the plant an example of sustainable energy production in Europe.”
Phosphorus recovery also planned
From 2027, the sludge mono-processor will be responsible for the final treatment of two-thirds of the sludge from the treatment of household wastewater in Flanders. In a follow-up project, Aquafin also plans to start full-scale phosphorus recovery from sludge treatment fly ash with this plant. Phosphorus is an essential building block for all life. It is used in modern agriculture in the form of phosphate in fertilisers. Via human urine, it enters wastewater and from there into sewage sludge. By opting for mono-processing of sludge, phosphorus can be better recovered. This will make Flanders less dependent on foreign mining operations.
About Aquafin
In Flanders, Aquafin is responsible for the finance package, development and operation of supra-municipal sewage treatment infrastructure. The company purifies wastewater so that streams and rivers become clean again, while bringing water into harmony with the environment. Aquafin wants to realise its objectives in a socially responsible way and make as much positive impact as possible through its activities. Besides reducing our ecological footprint and recovering energy and raw materials from wastewater, we also promote sustainable transition in our organisation’s ecosystem.
About FOSTER
FOSTER is a consortium of two respected international and value-driven industrial partners in the Belgian market: Indaver and BESIX. Each in their respective fields, they have already successfully realised many large industrial projects both in Belgium and abroad. They create added value for customers and society by putting care for people, safety and the environment first. To make this sludge mono-processor project a success, they purposefully pool their knowledge and experience, which is largely complementary.
BESIX is a leading Belgian group, based in Brussels and active in 25 countries across five continents. The company operates in the construction, property development and concessions sectors. The group has been active since 1909 and its list of emblematic achievements includes the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The Group’s engineering division enables BESIX to carry out complex and unique projects, especially in terms of technical and environmental aspects.
Besides design and build, the Group also offers its clients progressive customised solutions for the financing, operation and maintenance of their projects. In Benelux and the Middle East, BESIX’s public-private partnerships and concessions include environmental installations for water and waste treatment, buildings and infrastructure such as motorways, underpasses and lock complexes. More info: www.besix.com.
Indaver is a European player in the waste industry with plants and operations in Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Portugal, Italy, Ireland and the UK. Indaver manages and treats industrial and municipal waste in specialised facilities for industry, waste collectors and public authorities. From these processed waste streams, Indaver recovers valuable raw materials and energy. In this way, Indaver creates value from waste and helps close the materials cycle in a safe, low-carbon and energy-efficient way, making Indaver the ideal partner in the pursuit of a sustainable circular economy. In 2023, Indaver had a turnover of €871 million with around 2,200 employees across Europe. More information: www.indaver.com
Over ArcelorMittal
ArcelorMittal Belgium, with branches in Ghent, Liège, Genk and Geel, has over 5,000 employees. Total direct and indirect employment is estimated at 30,000 jobs. The company produces high-quality steel for a wide variety of applications in the automotive and other industrial sectors such as green energy, construction, white goods, packaging, …
About FINEG
FINEG is a public investor in renewable energy and sustainability solutions, founded in 2000 by 16 municipal associates, with the city of Antwerp as the largest shareholder. FINEG is actively contributing to the transition to a low-carbon economy by investing in renewable energy. We do this by assisting our municipal associates in implementing their local energy policies and by helping companies make their sites more sustainable. Besides the SPV FINARMIT, FINEG contributes to several other sustainable initiatives through participation in the Aspiravi wind farms, the Ecluse steam pipeline, Z-power, Polders Wind Fund, Sunfin, the SPV Finmalt, among others.