Energy recovery enables fulfilment of environmental requirements and saves energy

Partnership stories Chemical & Pharmaceutical

Cytiva (formerly part of GE Healthcare Life Sciences) is a leading global medicine and pharmaceutical company operating in approx. 40 countries with a large production site in Uppsala, Sweden. For more than 100 years, the company has provided significant innovations and solutions in the healthcare field. Since the summer of 2018, Cytiva has collaborated with Adven in the cooling of wastewater and heat recovery.

Cytiva provides solutions and services to diagnose, treat and monitor patients, and manufacture of biopharmaceuticals. Approximately 1,200 people work at the factory in Uppsala, and the products are delivered to more than 160 countries. Cytiva’s driving force is to help healthcare providers all over the world increase their capacity and improve their productivity in order to constantly achieve better patient care. While the production in Uppsala has increased in recent years, also stricter environmental requirements have affected the operations. Therefore, Cytiva decided to seek for opportunities in recovery of heat and cold from wastewater in collaboration with Adven.

– With a great commitment and a high level of competence, Adven could help us at Cytiva, to quickly manage problems with occasionally high wastewater temperatures. With a relatively complex facility, the temperature of the wastewater can now be regulated. In addition, the heat can be transferred to our properties for reduced energy use, which contributes to achieving our set environmental goals, says Joel Kröjs, Energy Controller at Cytiva Uppsala.

– At Cytiva we work intensively and, in a goal-oriented way towards a reduced environmental impact from our products. This is an example of a project where we in cooperation with Adven could solve a problem in a way that brings value in terms of reduced energy usage for heating and thereby lower environmental impact. A cooperation that is good for both Cytiva, Adven and the environment, says Cecilia Sjöstedt, Site Leader & CEO at Cytiva in Uppsala.

Excess energy is returned to the business

Adven’s facility at Cytiva was put into operation in the summer of 2018. The solution consists of three heat pumps that utilise the heat energy in the wastewater. Initially, the requirement was to lower the temperature of the water that was sent to the municipal sewage treatment plant, but the measure now entails both environmental and commercial benefits for Cytiva.

– This is an exciting environmental project with economic advantages for the customer. Cytiva’s ambition to improve its operations involving the environment and climate goes hand in hand with Adven’s driving force and areas of expertise. We both value professional, close and long-term partnerships, explains Mats Olofsson, Account Manager at Adven.

The plant can both extract heating and cooling from the wastewater. Cytiva uses the recovered heat in warming the premises for its 1,200 employees, which reduces the need for additional energy. On cold days, the heat is also reused in own processes, if needed, and on hot days, the cooling can be used to keep the process temperature down.

– Cytiva’s operations are critical for society. When we can come in as a partner and support in what we do best Cytiva can focus their resources on continuing to make a difference for people all over the world. These are exactly the kind of partnerships that we are passionate about. Being involved with and strengthening Cytiva’s competitiveness for the future feels very important, says Henrik Johansson Casimiro, SVP, Industrial Energy Solutions at Adven.