BIOFOS AS

Their core work

BIOFOS AS is one of Denmark's largest wastewater utilities, operating major sewage treatment plants that serve the greater Copenhagen metropolitan area. Their core business is the day-to-day treatment of municipal wastewater at industrial scale — receiving, processing, and safely returning treated water to the environment. In EU research projects they function as an operational infrastructure partner, offering something most research consortia cannot find easily: a real, full-scale wastewater facility where new technologies can be demonstrated under genuine working conditions. Their participation spans energy recovery from sewage sludge and the digital transformation of urban water networks.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the 2015–2018 period, BIOFOS was engaged in proving that wastewater treatment plants could become energy self-sufficient or even net energy exporters — a technically ambitious goal addressed through POWERSTEP. By 2019–2022, the emphasis had clearly shifted toward digitalisation: the DWC project centred on smart urban water management, data infrastructure, and decision-support tools for utilities. The arc is coherent — a large operational utility that first tackled the energy dimension of its plants, then moved to modernise the information and control layer sitting above them.

BIOFOS is moving from physical infrastructure optimisation toward digital utility management, making them a relevant partner for projects at the intersection of water, data, and smart-city infrastructure.

How they like to work

BIOFOS has participated in both projects as a consortium partner, never as coordinator — a pattern consistent with a large operational utility that contributes its physical infrastructure and operational expertise rather than leading research agendas. Both projects were Innovation Actions (IA), meaning BIOFOS was part of demonstration-focused consortia where real-world test sites matter more than academic leadership. With 36 unique partners across 13 countries from just two projects, they clearly work in large, internationally diverse consortia rather than tight bilateral arrangements.

BIOFOS has accumulated 36 unique consortium partners spanning 13 countries through only two projects, suggesting both consortia were large pan-European collaborations typical of Horizon 2020 Innovation Actions in the water sector. Their network is genuinely European in breadth, not concentrated in Scandinavia.

What sets them apart

BIOFOS brings something that universities and research institutes cannot — an operating, full-scale wastewater treatment plant in a major European capital, available as a living laboratory for technology demonstration. For consortia submitting Innovation Actions that require credible real-world validation sites, a partner like BIOFOS dramatically strengthens the proposal. Their combination of operational scale, Danish engineering culture, and demonstrated willingness to participate in EU-funded demonstration projects is rare among utilities of their size.

Highlights from their portfolio

• DWC
  The larger of the two grants (EUR 219,041) and the more forward-looking project, placing BIOFOS at the centre of Europe's push to digitise urban water infrastructure — a high-visibility topic for smart-city funding rounds.
• POWERSTEP
  A full-scale market-penetration demonstration of energy-positive sewage treatment — the kind of project that requires an industrial operator willing to run experimental processes on live infrastructure, which is rarely offered.