Dong Energy Converting Three Plants to Biomass

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) -- Dong Energy A/S (Fredericia, Denmark) is to press ahead with the conversion of three fossil fuel-fired power plants in Denmark to biomass.

The plants, with a combined generating capacity of almost 1,970-megawatts (MW), are combined heat and power (CHP) power plants and the biomass switch will help the company, and the country, to reduce its CO2 emissions. The plants include the coal-fired Studstrup plant (760 MW) in Aarhus and the Avedore plant (790 MW) in Copenhagen as well the natural gas-fired Skaerbaek plant (418 MW) in Kolding.

Dong first floated the possibility of converting the plants earlier this year, following an energy agreement between Danish political parties. At the time, Thomas Dalsgaard, Executive Vice President in DONG Energy, said: "We are negotiating about the conversion of Avedøre Power Station (Copenhagen), Studstrup Power Station (Aarhus) and Skærbæk Power Station (Kolding). We are negotiating 15-year contracts on heat supply, and if we reach an agreement this year, we can make an investment decision in 2013 and complete the conversion in 2015."

It now looks like those negotiations are progressing as Dalsgaard reconfirmed the company's commitment to converting the plants.

"The conversion to biomass enables 100% use of biomass, but the power plants will maintain fuel flexibility and be able to use coal or gas," Dalsgaard told Bloomberg. "CO2 emissions per energy unit should be halved by 2020 and reduced to only 15% by 2040."

Dong expects to see a reduction in its coal use from 4 million metric tons last year to 2 million tons once the conversions are completed in 2015. The company has been running biomass burning tests and pilots at the Studstrup and Avedøre plants for a number of years. A major fire at the electrical conveyor belt for the biomass-fired second unit at Avedore in August shut down the plant's biomass operations for a number weeks and may take months to repair.

"Our tests prove that the existing burners are capable of firing coal dust as well as sawdust although the properties are different," explained Jesper Staal, Programme Manager at Dong Energy earlier this year. "In doing so, we increase the flexibility of the power stations and keep the option of firing with coal."

Demark is one of the greenest energy users in Europe and has some of the most ambitious targets, including a plan to generate all of its electricity from renewables by 2050. In April this year, the Danish government announced plans to generate 50% of its electricity from wind power as part of a series of measures designed to increase its investment in renewable energy and reduce its reliance on coal, gas and oil-fired power. The new target doubles the amount of electricity that Denmark currently generates from windfarms, which stands at 25%. For additional information, see August 21, 2012, article - Denmark Raises Renewable Energy Targets.

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