Watermill Rotselaar
The AquaCOM pilot project in Belgium is located at the historic watermill of Rotselaar, on the river Dijle. Powered by energy generated from the mill's turbine, the aquathermal system supplies heat and hot sanitary water to ten dwellings within the mill's co-housing community. Led by the AquaCOM partner Ecopower, with the participation of EXTRAQT, the project demonstrates that existing homes, including valuable heritage sites, can be made more sustainable, contributing to a fossil-free energy future - it is estimated that the project will save 29 tonnes of CO₂ annually.
Heat is extracted from the river using a closed-loop system, with the heat exchanger immersed in the water behind the turbine. It is then boosted via three heat pumps, which are themselves powered by the mill's turbine, resulting in a 100% clean heating system. Four buffer tanks store hot water, heated at moments when electricity prices are lowest. The heat is delivered to residents' homes via a 150m network of underground pipes, ensuring warm homes in winter and hot sanitary water year-round. This is Ecopower's first aquathermal energy project.
This project will also be of benefit to
the business case of the mill's green power production. Although the mill was
generating, distributing and supplying green electricity to the village between
1907 and 1947, distribution is now a monopoly of the municipal DSO and the
revised legislation does not allow the electricity produced at the mill to be
supplied via a microgrid directly to households. In the AquaCOM pilot, this locally generated green electricity powers the heat pumps directly.