They will recover energy from wastewater. The largest such installation in Poland is being built in Wroclaw

Wroclaw's district heating system is based 100 percent on burning coal and requires fundamental changes in the direction of decarbonization. In addition to fuel switching, an important element of these changes is the use of waste heat. It can be recovered from server rooms, production processes, but also from wastewater.

Wrompa will be the largest system heat pump in Poland. Once operational in 2024, it will be an important part of Wroclaw's modern district heating system, covering up to 5 percent of the annual demand of the city's district heating customers.

Mariusz Dzikuc, director of development at Fortum

Wrompa will allow the abandonment of coal heating

According to Mariusz Dzikuc, the ongoing investment includes the construction of a 12.5 MW heat pump. This is a thousand times more than a typical heat pump in a single-family home. This will make it possible to obtain ecological heat from municipal and rainwater wastewater, mainly from the central and southern parts of Wroclaw.

Wrompa is the first step on the road to moving away from fossil fuels in generating heat for Wroclaw residents.

Mariusz Dzikuc

By using a heat pump powered by renewable electricity, it will be possible to reduce coal-fired heat generation by 364,000 GJ per year. As a result, each year we will avoid the emission of almost 35 thousand tons of CO2 and other harmful substances - SO2, NOx and dust.

Environmentally important undertaking

According to Witold Ziomek, CEO of MPWiK S.A. in Wroclaw, closed-loop economy is our future.

The end of a product's life should be at the same time the beginning of something new. This is the approach we are successfully using at our Janówek wastewater treatment plant. Thanks to sludge digestion, the plant is 100% self-sufficient in heat energy and about 60% in electricity. A similar philosophy of taking care of the planet will be applied throughout the city.

Witold Ziomek

According to Wiktor Ziomek, cooperation with Fortum will make it possible to use untreated wastewater as a heat source for the city's district heating system. On the other hand, energy recovery will reduce coal consumption in the production of heat for the citizens of Wroclaw.

Most of the installation will be underground

Currently, underground work is at a significant stage of advancement. This is of great importance, since it is below the surface that most of the installations will be located.

The construction of diaphragm walls, reaching 26 meters into the ground, has already been completed. They will help stop the inflow of groundwater. Soil has been removed from the excavation and groundwater has been pumped out. At a depth of 13 meters, a layer of lean concrete has been poured, on which reinforcement for the foundation slab is being laid. The wastewater treatment facilities will be located at this level. The next step is to erect the above-ground part.

Wrompa - an investment worth PLN 100 million

Wrompa will be connected to Fortum's district heating system by a network one kilometer long and half a meter in diameter. The project will cost a total of about PLN 100 million. The investment has received funding in the form of a grant from the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism in the amount of PLN 18 million and from the state budget in the amount of PLN 3 million. The project is being carried out by Fortum in cooperation with the Municipal Water Supply and Sewage Company in Wroclaw. The contractor for the investment is STRABAG.

The completed Wrompa will include 1,202.23 sqm of usable space. The planned completion of the building's shell construction will take place in January, and the completion of the entire building is scheduled for May 2024. It will be put into operation in the fourth quarter of 2024.