Orsted: Biomass unit at Asnæs Power Station generates power

Denmark-based Orsted has announced that its Asnæs Power Station was connected to the Zealand grid and generated power for the first time on Nov. 20 following its recent conversion from coal to wood chips.

Orsted, formerly DONG Energy, kicked off the biomass conversion of Asnæs Power Station in Kalundbord, Denmark, on Oct. 30, 2017. Prior to the conversion project, the facility consisted of two coal-fired units, one built in 1961 that had an electricity capacity of 142 WM and a district heating and process steam production capacity of 193 MW, and a second that was built in 1981 that had an electrical capacity of 640 MW and a district heating and process steam production capacity of 308 MW. In 2017, the company indicated that the future of the coal units would be clarified once the new biomass plant is commissioned.

The new biomass-fired plant was built as a separate unit in new buildings in Asnæs Power Station. Once fully operational, the biomass unit will have the capacity to produce 25 MW of power and 129 MJ/s of process steam and district heating. The company announced July 5, 2019, that the biomass unit had begun commissioning.

In its Nov. 20 announcement, Orsted said that technicians carried out countless preparations and tests prior to the energization of the generator. “It’s fantastic that we’ve come this far with the project. In August, we were able to supply the first green district heating and process steam to our customers, and now we’ve connected the unit to the grid and generated green power for the Zealand grid,” said Henrik Boye Jørgensen, senior project manager at Ørsted and responsible for the construction of Asnæs Power Station’s unit 6.

Startup of the biomass unit at Asnæs Power Station is another step toward the complete phase-out of coal at Orsted’s power stations. The company aims to completely phase out its use of coal by 2023.