News | November 7, 2024

Grundfos Joins Forces With InPipe Energy To Provide Efficient, Intelligent Renewable Energy And Decarbonization Technology To Municipalities And Industries

Source: Grundfos

Grundfos and InPipe Energy (InPipe), have today announced a partnership to help municipal water utilities and water-intensive industries save energy, save money and meet their climate action goals through the HydroXS® system. Within the water cycle, water distribution is the application that consumes the most energy, but so far there has been no scalable means to produce or recover resources to create energy. The HydroXS changes this, using Grundfos pump technology as a turbine to enable users to become carbon-neutral or even carbon-positive.    

Grundfos and InPipe recognized the need for efficient, intelligent renewable energy solutions that not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lower energy costs but also transform how water is managed. 

HydroXS is a turnkey energy recovery system that replicates the functionality of a control valve but converts typically wasted pressure in existing water pipelines into a new, low-cost source of renewable, green energy. It combines a micro-hydro turbine using Grundfos technology with smart controls so that operators can precisely manage pressure and control flow to decrease non-revenue water volumes, generate renewable energy, and reduce carbon emissions to meet sustainability, budgetary, and reliability goals. HydroXS can be used to power critical infrastructure, or net-meter back to the grid. 

“Our collaboration with InPipe marks a significant milestone in Grundfos’ strategy to integrate pumping and technology solutions with innovative energy recovery,” explained Dan Story, Senior Director WU Product Management at Grundfos. “We’re committed to exploring innovative avenues to combat climate change alongside our customers, and InPipe’s modular approach presents a game-changing opportunity to empower our customers to enhance their operational efficiency, sustainability, and resilience.”

“Municipal water supply is only the beginning,” added InPipe CEO and Founder, Gregg Semler. 

“Water-intensive industries like mining, food and beverage, agriculture, and data centers can also leverage their existing infrastructure investment and reduce electricity costs by recovering energy from their own water systems making the HydroXS a low-cost, drop-in solution for achieving carbon neutrality sooner than later.”

The first HydroXS installation to incorporate Grundfos’ pump-as-a-turbine technology will be commissioned this month in Aurora, Colorado. Aurora Water, providers of water, sewer, and stormwater services to City of Aurora residents, selected HydroXS as part of its plan to shift to renewable energy. It will generate an estimated 60 kilowatts of energy from the City’s water distribution system each year offsetting nearly six metric tons of CO2 emissions over its lifetime. Further project details and photos will be available in November.