Wood pellet conversion for Danish power station presses ahead

Danish heat companies Centralkommunernes Transmissionsselskab (CTR), VEKS and Dong Energy have finalised a new agreement concerning the expansion of unit two at the Avedøre power station towards becoming 100% fuelled by wood pellets.

The agreement lasts until 2027 and the investment is marked at almost DKK 100 million (€13.4 million).

‘The heat agreement that we’ve agreed on is good. The ability to expand our capacity to burn wood pellets is a key element of Dong’s strategy concerning renewable electricity and heat generation and allowing us to reduce our CO² emissions,’ says Dong executive VP Thomas Dalsgaard.

The expansion of unit two will comprise of a new fuel mill and additional capacity for transporting wood pellets from the port to the Avedøre storage facilities. The expansion will take place over the next 18 months with an operational date pencilled in as 1 October 2014.

‘The transition to greener heat from Avedøre will probably reduce CO² emissions from the heat supply in Copenhagen by just over 10% a year from 2015,’ says Ayfer Baykal, chairman of CTR’s board of directors. ‘This will provide a sound contribution to CTR’s objective to supply CO2-neutral heat to its owner municipalities in 2025, and to Copenhagen becoming the world’s first CO2-neutral capital.’