Energy park’s water reuse will significantly reduce freshwater extraction in Andalucia

Reducing the need to extract freshwater in Andalucia

Spain has long been a leading advocate of water reuse and Cepsa is one of the leading energy suppliers in Spain. It is committed to improving its sustainability offering, including a ’20 per cent reduction in freshwater extraction in water-stressed areas by 2025’. This forms part of its ‘Driving Positive Impact’ sustainability plan. 

The plans also fit into the planned EU’s rules that are being designed to help promote wider reuse of treated urban wastewater to prevent water scarcity.

The company estimates that the reuse plant at San Roque Energy Park will reduce the water used in the energy park by 25 per cent, which when combined with other measures put in place over the last three years, will achieve water use savings of 53 per cent.

Treated water will be used in the energy park’s cooling towers.

The region has been suffering from drought conditions since 2016, however, the Andalucian government has recently eased water restrictions following heavy rains. 

Speaking of the importance of the water treatment and reuse plant, the regional government’s minister for sustainability, environment and blue economy, Ramón Fernández-Pacheco, said that it was: “another commitment to environmental protection, another step in Andalusian industry's adaptation to climate change”, and “an example of circular economy and another commitment by the company to environmental protection.”

BRIO innovation program and future developments

In addition to its ‘Driving Positive Impact’ plan, Cepsa has an internal management plan that focuses on operational excellence. The BRIO innovation program identifies ‘water-saving measures and other efficiency measures in the industrial facilities of its energy parks’.

Rosendo Rivero, director of the San Roque Energy Park, said: “Saving water and improving the way that we manage it is a priority for all of us making up the San Roque Energy Park, where we are aware that it is a valuable and scarce resource. We will continue to work along these lines.”

Cepsa has also signed an agreement with Aguas y Servicios del Campo de Gibraltar (Arcgisa) of the Campo de Gibraltar Association of Municipalities, that will see a new wastewaster treatment plant being built on land near the Energy Park.

The new facility will treat urban runoff from Los Barrios and San Roque and supply it to Arcgisa for use as its facilities. It is estimated that 4.2 million m3/year will be treated for reuse, an equivalent amount of water used in one year by a town of 35,000 people.

This represents a huge saving on freshwater use and will help future developments in the region to operate with minimal water input.