Novo Nordisk and Novozymes are part of a common landowners’ association, with the purpose to run and maintain the two companies’ common production areas in Kalundborg. This is where water and energy flows for both companies are distributed.

Novo Nordisk Kalundborg has 3,500 employees and produces 50 % of the world’s insulin. A total of 28 million patients worldwide use the insulin, that starts its journey in one of the production facilities in Kalundborg.

The insulin is purified from a basic material, which is produced using fermentation processes. The microorgan-isms in the fermentation tank are fueled primarily by sugars, vitamins, and other micronutrients. This type and size of production has big demands in terms of water and energy, which means that Novo Nordisk benefits greatly from being part of the Kalundborg Symbiosis, where there is easy access to energy and water, as well as good opportunities to develop the production to make it even more sustainable. Novo Nordisk also contributes by utilizing surplus heat and residual fractions for example for fertilizers and the production of biogas.

With its about 3,500 employees, a solid investment growth, and focus on sustainable production, Novo Nordisk Kalundborg plays a central part for the Kalundborg Symbiosis by creating new projects.
Read more about Novo Nordisk here

Unibio is an innovative developer of protein production technology that converts methane from any source into a highly concentrated organic protein used as ingredients in both food and feed.

Unibio’s bio-industrial innovation disrupts the protein value chain by decoupling protein production from farming and fishing and offering an organic, sustainable solution.
The technology developed by Unibio replicates the microbiological processes that occur in nature every day. Unibio has succeeded in transferring this natural conversion of methane to protein into a viable bio-industrial process using the U-Loop® fermentor patented by Unibio. The fermentation technology has been demonstrated in pilot and demonstration scale in Kalundborg and is currently being tested in commercial scale abroad.

Unibio benefits from the biogas that Kalundborg Symbiosis offers and have high expectations for future collaboration in the symbiose.

Read more about Unibio here

Novozymes is the World's largest producer of enzymes for the industry, and benefits from the process steam and purified surface water from Tissø that Kalundborg Symbiosis offers. Novozymes' production requires large amounts of water, energy and biomass. The large quantities also mean that Novozymes is of great importance for Kalundborg Symbiosis, since it creates new symbiosis opportunities, and exploits the existing ones; for example, when residues from a production turn into NovoGro 30 fertilizer, or when process wastewater is used to produce biogas and electricity.

Novozymes’ factories are located all over the world. The production facilities in Kalundborg have about 600 employees, and produce, among other things, enzymes that boost detergency of washing powder, and reduce the use of chemicals in industrial processes.

The enzymes are produced in a fermentation process where, for example, corn, sugar and potato starch are used as raw materials. Read more about Novozymes here

Running along the roads, in the industrial area of Kalundborg, are big green pipes, which transports steam from Asnæsværket to several partners of the Kalundborg Symbiosis. The green pipes have become the symbol of the industrial symbiosis and is the most visible sign that the companies in the symbiosis are connected.

Previously, Asnæsværket had an overcapacity of steam as part of the electricity production. In time, the steam for the Kalundborg Symbiosis has become a main product and electricity a byproduct. This development shows that industrial symbioses, over time, can advance new business models.

At Statoil’s refinery, the steam is used to heat the raw oil, so volatile compounds are separated, and the raw oil is condensed into gasoline, diesel and other compounds at different temperatures.

At Novozymes and Novo Nordisk, the steam is used for a variety of purposes, including cleaning, sterilization and distillation.

Running along the roads, in the industrial area of Kalundborg, are big green pipes, which transports steam from Asnæsværket to several partners of the Kalundborg Symbiosis. The green pipes have become the symbol of the industrial symbiosis and is the most visible sign that the companies in the symbiosis are connected.

Previously, Asnæsværket had an overcapacity of steam as part of the electricity production. In time, the steam for the Kalundborg Symbiosis has become a main product and electricity a byproduct. This development shows that industrial symbioses, over time, can advance new business models.

At Statoil’s refinery, the steam is used to heat the raw oil, so volatile compounds are separated, and the raw oil is condensed into gasoline, diesel and other compounds at different temperatures.

At Novozymes and Novo Nordisk, the steam is used for a variety of purposes, including cleaning, sterilization and distillation.

Running along the roads, in the industrial area of Kalundborg, are big green pipes, which transports steam from Asnæsværket to several partners of the Kalundborg Symbiosis. The green pipes have become the symbol of the industrial symbiosis and is the most visible sign that the companies in the symbiosis are connected.

Previously, Asnæsværket had an overcapacity of steam as part of the electricity production. In time, the steam for the Kalundborg Symbiosis has become a main product and electricity a byproduct. This development shows that industrial symbioses, over time, can advance new business models.

At Statoil’s refinery, the steam is used to heat the raw oil, so volatile compounds are separated, and the raw oil is condensed into gasoline, diesel and other compounds at different temperatures.

At Novozymes and Novo Nordisk, the steam is used for a variety of purposes, including cleaning, sterilization and distillation.

For certain purposes in the production at Novozymes and Novo Nordisk, the steam received from Ørsted is too hot. Therefore, the temperature is reduced to about 200 degrees. This is done by using it to heat up “used” steam from the production. The “used” steam, which is about 90 degrees, is called warm condensate. This condensate loops and recycles locally on site when it is made to “new” 200 degrees hot steam. Some of the warm condensate is also used to preheat fresh water for local steam production, so that the water temperature rises from 10 to 90 degrees. Thus, steam production requires less energy.

For certain purposes in the production at Novozymes and Novo Nordisk, the steam received from Ørsted is too hot. Therefore, the temperature is reduced to about 200 degrees. This is done by using it to heat up “used” steam from the production. The “used” steam, which is about 90 degrees, is called warm condensate. This condensate loops and recycles locally on site when it is made to “new” 200 degrees hot steam. Some of the warm condensate is also used to preheat fresh water for local steam production, so that the water temperature rises from 10 to 90 degrees. Thus, steam production requires less energy.

District heating is common practice in Denmark. More than 60 percent of Danish households are heated by district heating. At Ørsted’s CHP (Combined Heat and Power) plant, Asnæsværket, part of the energy, which is converted to steam and electricity, is turned into district heating. This is sent to Kalundborg Utility, who then distributes it to citizens and companies. Kalundborg Utility’s heat pump ensures that the city’s citizens are supplied with additional heat in the coldest months of the year.

In addition to receiving district heating from Kalundborg Utility, Novo Nordisk and Novozymes utilize part of the excess heat that is generated from their own production. The utilization of the excess heat happens locally, on-site, and means that the heat production uses less resources.

Additionally, Gyproc also supplies Kalundborg Utility with heat for district heating.

District heating is common practice in Denmark. More than 60 percent of Danish households are heated by district heating. At Ørsted’s CHP (Combined Heat and Power) plant, Asnæsværket, part of the energy, which is converted to steam and electricity, is turned into district heating. This is sent to Kalundborg Utility, who then distributes it to citizens and companies. Kalundborg Utility’s heat pump ensures that the city’s citizens are supplied with additional heat in the coldest months of the year.

In addition to receiving district heating from Kalundborg Utility, Novo Nordisk and Novozymes utilize part of the excess heat that is generated from their own production. The utilization of the excess heat happens locally, on-site, and means that the heat production uses less resources.

Additionally, Gyproc also supplies Kalundborg Utility with heat for district heating.

Kalundborg Utility is responsible for the final purification of the waste water from the companies in the Kalundborg Symbiosis, but before that, several of the partners have cleaned and treated the waste themselves, so it complies with the legal requirements. Even though these flows are indicated with the same number, the term covers several different types and qualities of process and wastewater from the companies. Some types of wastewater run in separate pipes, so the purification process can be done optimally and with the lowest possible energy use.

Before being discharged into the environment, the purified wastewater from Kalundborg Utility is run through a heat exchanger at the heat pump. Here part of the heat in the wastewater is utilized for district heat production.

Millions of cubic meters of surface water from Tissø are used annually by the Kalundborg Symbiosis, instead of drinking water from groundwater reserves. The surface water runs in a 13 kilometer long pipeline from Tissø to Kalundborg Utility, and is then distributed on to the companies. The surface water is used for cooling in production at Equinor, Ørsted and Novo Nordisk. In addition, Ørsted has a water reservoir where they extract surface water used in the plant that cleans the smoke for sulfur.

Out of the more than 3 million cubic meters of surface water recovered from Tissø and used in Kalundborg Symbiosen, more than 1 million cubic meters will be cleaned to the quality of drinking water. It all ends up at Novozymes, where the cleaned surface water is used directly in their production of industrial enzymes. This saves drinking water and conserves groundwater reserves. Furthermore Novozymes can reduce one of the production costs significantly, being that cleaned surface water is far cheaper than drinking water.

Out of the more than 3 million cubic meters of surface water recovered from Tissø and used in Kalundborg Symbiosen, more than 1 million cubic meters will be cleaned to the quality of drinking water. It all ends up at Novozymes, where the cleaned surface water is used directly in their production of industrial enzymes. This saves drinking water and conserves groundwater reserves. Furthermore Novozymes can reduce one of the production costs significantly, being that cleaned surface water is far cheaper than drinking water.

Novo Nordisk produces insulin through a fermentation process, where yeast cells grow primarily on sugar and vitamins. When the fermentation process is finalized, and insulin is fractionated out, a nutritional mixture called yeast slurry is retained. This fraction is send to a biogas plant for gasification, resulting in a production of biogas that is upgraded to natural gas quality and a production of fertilizers

The Kalundborg Utility treats the wastewater from homes and companies and collects a large amount of sand from the wastewater in their sand traps. The sand consists of different sizes of pebbles and gravel and is excellent as filling for digging jobs. All sand used for work like this is rinsed, sanitized and checked to make sure it meets the requirements to be reused as filling.