Asnæs Power Station Generates Green Power

First green power generated by the turbine at the new wood chip-fired unit 6 on 20 November.

For more than 30 months, suppliers, technicians and project employees have been working hard on making Asnæs Power Station in Denmark capable of generating process steam, heat and power without using coal. One of the most important pieces of the big puzzle fell into place on 20 November when the unit’s generator was connected to the Zealand grid and generated power for the first time.

The technicians have carried out countless preparations and tests prior to the energisation 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,” says Henrik Boye Jørgensen, Senior Project Manager at Ørsted and responsible for the construction of Asnæs Power Station’s unit 6.

The new turbine has a capacity of 25MW power and 129MJ/s process steam and district heating. To generate power, the steam must be fed into the turbine at a pressure of 100 bar and a temperature of 540°C.

Green energy with a high reliability of supply
Ørsted initiated the conversion of Asnæs Power Station in October 2017 to enable the power station to replace coal with sustainable wood chips in the future.

The new wood chip-fired unit 6 at Asnæs Power Station will supply heat together with Asnæs Power Station’s boiler and Kalundborg Forsyning’s large heat pump. The green power from wind and solar PV is thus utilised when it’s available at competitive prices, while wood chips from sustainably managed forests ensure that Kalundborg’s need for process steam for the industry, district heating for homes and power for Denmark is fully covered without using coal, while delivering a high reliability of supply and a high degree of flexibility.

With Asnæs 6, another important step will be taken towards the complete phase-out of coal at Ørsted’s power stations.